Etsy buys mobile app start-up Mixel to develop its own offering

A US-headquartered e-commerce platform for vintage products and handmade items has bought Mixel.

Etsy, which is backed by UK-based venture capital firms Index Ventures and Accel Partners, has closed its third acquisition and snapped up Mixel.

The purchase of Mixel will allow Etsy to develop its mobile presence, following the launch of its iPad and Android apps in 2012.

Etsy has previosly secured $91.7 million (£58.3 million) worth of venture capital funding, with its latest, and largest, fundraising netting it $40 million in May 2012.

Previous acquisitions of Trunkt and Adtuitive have allowed Etsy to bolster its growth, and the e-commerce business will now use Mixel to build its ‘total experience’.

According to a company blog, the Mixel team of CEO Khoi Vinh, co-founder Scott Ostler, Aviva Leffert and Roy Stanfield, will turn their focus to Etsy’s ‘mobile future’.

Etsy says that over the Christmas period one in three visits to its site came from a mobile device, a trend which its expects to accelerate.

Etsy’s creative director Randy Hunt says that  Etsy would continue to support Mixel but will phase out the social network aspect of the app.

Hunter Ruthven

Hunter Ruthven

Hunter was the Editor for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2012 to 2014, before moving on to Caspian Media Ltd to be Editor of Real Business.

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