Biggest Tech Start-up Acquisitions of 2012

Not all start-up companies are created with the idea of seeing them through. Sometimes the start-up developer only plans to fatten the calf and sell it to the highest bidder.

This works out extremely well for both the seller and the buyer. Facebook alone has bought more than 15 start-ups in the last couple of years. Here are the top 12 tech start-up acquisitions of 2012.

Top 12 Biggest Tech Start-up Acquisitions of 2012

1. Instagram

Instagram acquired by Facebook, on April 9^th, 2012, for 1 billion USD.

Instagram allows users to take a digital photo, add digital filters to it, and share it on a medley of social networking sites. In one tool, you get a 4.3 aspect ratio digital photo taking feature, along with digitizing Photoshop-like techniques, plus instant social media sharing facility.

Instagram supports the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and Android 2.2 camera phones.

2. Face.com

Face.com acquired by Facebook, on June 18^th, 2012, for 100 million USD.

Face.com is a facial recognition tool that scans photos and tags them to their associated social networking information. So if you want to know someone social media info, all you have to do is take a picture of their face and upload it to this app.

This app discovered 11 billion faces on social media as of February, 2011.

3. Tagtile

Tagtile acquired by Facebook on April 13^th 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

Tagtile is a customer management, loyalty program and direct marketing solution for businesses. This app makes it easy to stay in touch with one’s customers via Facebook and Twitter.

Customers who have downloaded the Tagtile app have to just tap it once and their social media accounts will be connected to the accounts of the company.

4. Glancee

Glancee acquired by Facebook on May 5^th, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

Glancee pioneers social discovery by helping people discover hidden connections around themselves and meet interesting people.

Thousands of people have discovered each other via Glancee so far. Glancee is now being put to use for Facebook’s 900 million users.

5. Lightbox

Lightbox acquired by Facebook on May 15^th, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

Lightbox provides an enhanced way to view images and attach captions to them. One can even run a slide show and navigate it with keys. Users can view larger image versions without leaving their current webpage. Lightbox dims the surrounding interface to allow clearer image view.

6. Karma

Karma acquired by Facebook on May 21^st, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

Karma is a social gifting service that allows you to wish their friends on special occasions. This app also recommends the right gift for your friend using their Facebook data.

The best part is, if your recipient does not like your gift, they can customize it, swap it, or even donate it to charity. Karma ships the original gift to your recipient and takes care of the subsequent swapping and donation too.

7. Quickoffice

Quickoffice acquired by Google on June 5^th, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

Quickoffice uses a proprietary word processing tool called Quickword, a spreadsheet tool called Quicksheet, and a presentation tool called QuickPoint. All these tools help you quickly create various kinds of documents quickly on your smartphone or tablet, while on the go.

These tools are compatible with MS Office programs as well.

8. Meebo

Meebo acquired By Google on June 4^th, 2012, for USD 100 Million.

Meebo is an embedded social media platform that supports advertising. Originally, it was a browser-based chat application that supported multiple chat programs such as Yahoo! Messenger, AIM, ICQ, Windows Live Messenger, Facebook Chat, MySpace IM, and Google Talk and so on.

There’s a Meebo version for iPhone and Android phones as well.

9. TxVia

TxVia acquired By Google on April 2^nd, 2012, for an undisclosed amount.

TxVia is an app that helps provide solutions for newer modes of payment, such as payment through one’s mobile. This app has delivered many new and groundbreaking solutions so far, and continues to do so.

Google plans to use TxVia to partner with payments and commerce industries.

10. Amobee

Amobee acquired by SingTel in March 2012 for USD 321 million.

Amobee is a mobile advertising technology company that provides various services to mobile operators, large advertisers and publishers.

It comes with a proprietary platform which works well with any mobile type and mobile operating system, including gaming platforms.

11. HungryGoWhere

HungryGoWhere acquired by SingTel on 22^nd May 2012 for USD $9.4 Million.

HungryGoWhere is an innovative food portal that lists eateries based on user reviews and ratings.

Users can search for restaurants based on what the place is recommended for, such as dining, drinking, chilling out or corporate functions.

12. Peekspy

Peekspy acquired by eBay’s subsidiary, Stubhub in March 2012 for an undisclosed amount.

Peekspy allows users to take a peek into 3D representations of venues that host sports and concerts. Based on the seating arrangements and the degree of visibility, people can book the best seats they can afford.