-
Ed Robinson - co-founder and CEO of Aptimize - Source: Fairfax
One of New Zealand's most promising software start-ups, Aptimize, has been bought out by a multibillion-dollar United States competitor in a deal likely to be worth tens of millions of dollars.
More than 20 of Wellington's technology investors are among those who will share the spoils.
Companies Office records show Aptimize, which took out the Cyber Gold prize at the Gold Awards this year, secretly changed hands on Thursday and is now wholly-owned by Californian company Riverbed Technology, which is valued at US$6.1 billion on the New York Stock Exchange.
Riverbed has not yet made any announcement of the acquisition and Aptimize founder and managing director Ed Robinson would not comment.
Though the company is less than three years old and employs just 10 staff, Wellington technology entrepreneur Rod Drury said Aptimize had developed some intellectual property that would have been valuable to others.
Aptimize makes software that lets companies speed up their websites by consolidating and compressing files so pages are quicker for visitors to download. Customers include Microsoft, Google, Disney and Trade Me.
Drury said its sale would be a "fantastic thing" for the capital and would encourage more technology investment. A trade sale was probably the right option and would add to the experience of its investors, he said.
Trade Me technology head Dave Wasley was equally upbeat.
"All power to the Aptimize crew. Another cool Kiwi company recognised on the international stage."
The founders of global security software firm Marshal paid $1 million for a 27% stake in Aptimize in 2009, but it has since recorded a series of coups that will have ratcheted up its value.
In October, US technology giant Citrix entered into a partnership to sell its software and two months later influential US analyst Gartner Group named the Wellington company as a "visionary" in its market.
Aptimize once had a section on its website that compared its software against a competing product from Riverbed, but that has now been removed.
Half of Aptimize's direct and indirect former shareholders live in Wellington.
