Summly app created by British teenager is bought by internet giant Yahoo in deal worth 'dozens of millions' of pounds.
Yahoo purchased the Summly app, which summarises news stories from popular media companies, from its 17-year-old creator Nick D'Aloisio
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Your support makes all the difference.An app created by a British teenager has been snapped up by internet giant Yahoo in a deal thought to be worth "dozens of millions" of pounds.
Yahoo purchased the Summly app, which summarises news stories from popular media companies, from its 17-year-old creator Nick D'Aloisio.
The price of purchasing the app has not been disclosed, but industry experts have suggested it could be between £20 million and £40 million.
Speaking to the Evening Standard newspaper today, D’Aloisio said he would probably buy a new computer and trainers with some of the money from the sale, “I just want to save and bank it. I don’t have many living expenses,” he added.
Summly's features will now be incorporated into mobile products at Yahoo, where Mr D'Aloisio will now work, as well as studying for his A-Levels.
The app automatically reduces lengthy online news stories and features into summaries to make them more easily readable on mobile devices.
The app reached number nine in the free iPhone app chart last November and offers users a quick and easy way of finding news stories on the internet.
Mr D'Aloisio said he was "delighted" about the deal.
In a message on the Summly website, he wrote: "I am delighted to announce Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo!.
"After spending some time on campus, I discovered that Yahoo! has an inspirational goal to make people's daily routines entertaining and meaningful, and mobile will be a central part of that vision. For us, it's the perfect fit.
"When I founded Summly at 15, I would have never imagined being in this position so suddenly."
The Summly app will now be closed from the Apple Inc store and its features integrated into Yahoo's mobile initiatives.
Yahoo has acquired several small mobile and web start-up companies since former Google executive Marissa Mayer became chief executive last year.
The purchase of Summly comes just two weeks after Google announced it is planning to retire its RSS reader application Google Reader as of July 1.
The Yahoo purchase of Summly has been seen by some as an attempt to fill the gap left by Google Reader.
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