Get All Access for $5/mo

Yahoo Acquires Lexity, An Ecommerce Service for Small Businesses Founded by a former Yahoo search and advertising executive, the startup is Marissa Mayer's 19th purchase for the tech giant.

By Benjamin Kabin

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

allthingsd.com

It looks like Marissa Mayer's acquisition spree continues. Yahoo has acquired Lexity, the app-centric ecommerce platform founded by former long-time Yahoo employee Amit Kumar.

Originally called Vurve, Lexity builds apps to "help merchants with customer acquisition retention and monetization," the company says. Its Lexity Live app aims to monitor story activity and provide insights on how to improve sales and other efficiencies.

Before the buyout, Lexity had raised more than $5.5 million in funding.

The purchase is Yahoo's 19th since chief executive Marissa Mayer took control of the struggling company a year ago. It also seems consistent with the company's steady focus on acquiring mobile startups.

Kumar apparently has a knack for building companies that Yahoo just has to have. A search and advertising expert for Yahoo for many years, Kumar left the internet giant to join Dapper, an advertising firm that was later acquired by the internet giant. Kumar left again in 2009 to start Lexity, and now that's owned by Yahoo, too.

In an announcement on its blog, Lexity said all operations would "continue to run seamlessly" for the time being. TechCrunch reports that the platform will eventually be rebranded.

Lexity claims to have tens of thousands of customers in more than 110 countries.

Related: Marissa Mayer's Smartest and Dumbest Moves at Yahoo

Benjamin Kabin

Journalist

Benjamin Kabin is a Brooklyn-based technology journalist who specializes in security, startups, venture capital and social media.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Marketing

Are Your Business's Local Listings Accurate and Up-to-Date? Here Are the Consequences You Could Face If Not.

Why accurate local listings are crucial for business success — and how to avoid the pitfalls of outdated information.

Money & Finance

Day Traders Often Ignore This One Topic At Their Peril

Boring things — like taxes — can sometimes be highly profitable.

Productivity

Want to Be More Productive Than Ever? Treat Your Personal Life Like a Work Project.

It pays to emphasize efficiency and efficacy when managing personal time.

Business News

'Passing By Wide Margins': Elon Musk Celebrates His 'Guaranteed Win' of the Highest Pay Package in U.S. Corporate History

Musk's Tesla pay package is almost 140 times higher than the annual pay of other high-performing CEOs.

Growing a Business

He Immigrated to the U.S. and Got a Job at McDonald's — Then His Aversion to Being 'Too Comfortable' Led to a Fast-Growing Company That's Hard to Miss

Voyo Popovic launched his moving and storage company in 2018 — and he's been innovating in the industry ever since.

Starting a Business

I Left the Corporate World to Start a Chicken Coop Business — Here Are 3 Valuable Lessons I Learned Along the Way

Board meetings were traded for barnyards as a thriving new venture hatched.