Yahoo Acquires Lexity, An Ecommerce Service for Small Businesses

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