LinkedIn has bought marketing company Bizo for close to $175 million in order to improve its offerings for advertising.
This is the second deal made by the social network for professionals in the past several weeks, the last being its acquisition of startup Newsle, according to The New York Times. The deal took place last week, and the price of the purchase has not been revealed.
Bizo, founded in 2008, provides technology for marketers to use for creating ads for business customers.
"It's exciting for us to bring Bizo's expertise and technology into our ecosystem," said Deep Nishar, senior vice president for product and user experience at LinkedIn. "Our ability to integrate their B2B solutions with our content marketing products will enable us to become the most effective platform for B2B marketers to engage professionals."
LinkedIn said the purchase will be made 90 percent in cash and should be finalized in the third quarter of this year, CNET reported. The company added that it will use Bizo's technology to strengthen its advertising division.
Advertising has been a main focus recently among social media companies, with Twitter agreeing to buy mobile-advertising technology company TapCommerce in June. Facebook is providing more options for advertising for mobile-app developers, and Pinterest has started to give advertisers the ability to use its site to promote content.
Bizo has received support from Venrock, Bessemer Venture Partners, and other investors, which has helped the company raise $28.5 million in funding, The New York Times reported.
"We have been a LinkedIn partner for a while now and it became clear that our respective missions and cultures are really well aligned," said Russell Glass, co-founder of Bizo. "I couldn't be more thrilled that we are coming together to accelerate our ability to reach professional audiences, nurture prospects, and acquire customers in truly powerful ways."
