LinkedIn to acquire newsreader start-up Pulse for $90 million

Professional social network LinkedIn Corp today said it would pay $90 million in cash and stock to acquire Pulse, a popular newsreader and mobile content distribution start-up.

California-based LinkedIn will pay 10 per cent of the deal value in cash and 90 per cent in stock.

Founded in 2010 as a class project at Stanford's d. school by Ankit Gupta and Akshay Kothari, Pulse's apps aggregate news updates from more than 750 publications, as well as social networks.

With over 30 million registered users on Apple's iOS and Google's Android operating systems, Pulse is currently seeing over 10 million stories being read each day.

The app was praised by Steve Jobs, bestowed the Apple Design Award, and was named one of TIME's top 50 apps of 2011.

The San Francisco-based company has raised $10 million in funding from Redpoint Ventures, Mayfield Fund, and others.

''We believe LinkedIn can be the definitive professional publishing platform - where all professionals come to consume content and where publishers come to share their content,'' LinkedIn SVP of product and user experience, Deep Nisha, said in a company blog post confirming the Pulse acquisition. ''Pulse is a perfect complement to this vision.''

''LinkedIn is the perfect partner as we continue our journey. The company shares our passions and values, our belief in the power of knowledge and elevated discussion, particularly for professionals looking for insights to help make them better at what they do,'' Kothari said in a blog post.