European business social network Viadeo has acquired Canadian-based UNYK for an undisclosed sum. The deal will give Viadeo access to UNYK’s membership of 16 million users, which is growing at a rate of 600,000 new members each month, a smart address book product and contact synchronization technology. Launched in September 2005, UNYK works as a […]
European business social network Viadeo has acquired Canadian-based UNYK for an undisclosed sum. The deal will give Viadeo access to UNYK’s membership of 16 million users, which is growing at a rate of 600,000 new members each month, a smart address book product and contact synchronization technology. Launched in September 2005, UNYK works as a ‘smart’ online address book that updates itself and lets members merge their address books from Outlook, webmail and mobiles.
14/10/2009
It now has a global network spanning 180 countries, managing 870 million contacts globally.
UNYK members will now become Viadeo members, bringing the Viadeo network to over 25 million users and increasing the growth rate of the Viadeo network to over one million users per month.
Dan Serfaty, CEO of Viadeo commented: “This acquisition is highly complementary and more than doubles our subscriber base, while strengthening our global and local market presence. Our strategy continues to be to develop networks throughout Europe and emerging countries and with this acquisition I believe we have significantly strengthened our market position and offering, particularly throughout Mexico, Brazil and India.
“Additionally, we now have a North American presence, with 4 million members in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico. We’re building a global platform, but remain committed to developing local offerings specific to each market we service, one of our key competitive differentiators. We are currently profitable and anticipate this acquisition to be accretive within the first year of operations.”
“UNYK’s unparalleled synchronization strategy and global membership meshes well with Viadeo’s member needs,” stated Sebastien Brault, President and Founder of UNYK. “The combination of our smart address book and synchronization technology and Viadeo’s business social network is a combination unmatched by competitors today…and we intend to capitalize on this.”
Founded in June 2004, Viadeo quickly established itself as an essential tool for professional networking in Europe and beyond. Since then, Viadeo is used by those who want to increase their business opportunities (to discover new clients, staff and business partners), enhance their visibility and their online reputation, and manage and develop their network of professional contacts.
www.viadeo.com
www.unyk.com
