The online messenger bird is bent on spreading its wings in a bit of a buying spree lately. In what many considers a timely strategic move, Twitter has acquired for under $50M TenXer, the San Francisco-based project management platform that aims to help developers and engineers become more efficient and effective in their jobs.
TenXer, a tech company founded by renowned math genius and ex-MIT Blackjack team member Jeff Ma, would constitute a big boost to Twitter, a company that has caught a lot of flak for some of its internal issues.
A Smart Move
In a report by Tech Crunch, TenXer CEO and founder Jeff Ma confirmed over the phone the acquisition of his productivity suit by Twitter saying, ""We will be shutting down tenXer and continuing our work within Twitter."
Further the MIT alumnus expounded, "We are excited to apply what we've learned in the last three years to a world-class engineering organization."
TenXer itself has confirmed the recent purchase in its website, posting: "The tenXer is excited to be joining Twitter.
The site stipulates that the productivity tool may no longer be available for other customers but will be able to improve engineering effectiveness from within the world-renowned social networking tool.
Twitter may be positioning tenXer under the banner of Fabric, the social media's basket of developer tools (i.e., embedded tweets, polls). Fabric is geared towards streamlining mobile development, a not-too-distant process when compared to TenXer's own streamlining goals.
A Prized Catch
Reportedly bought at a prize not exceeding $50M (though no exact figures were given), TenXer purchase is considered by many as a great buy and the productivity suit a great addition to the Twitter mix.
TenXer's passion for productivity is revealed by TenXer itself: "tenXer helps engineering leads be better managers. Using the data engineers produce every day (via GitHub, Pivotal, JIRA, etc.), we deliver the key views, stats and insights managers need to be effective and to help their teams be more productive."
Also, TenXer has excelled in the past in pulling together different data sources to foster better decision-making process for start-ups. Such skill should be timely in Twitter's push for better analytics.
Jeff Ma, TenXer's main man, has been instrumental in pushing the envelope when it comes to predictive analysis, an expertise he has applied to sports and to his favorite past time: gambling.
For its part, Twitter has been continually developing its thrust towards better analytics service so it would come as no surprise if Jeff Ma would be at the center of that drive.
Recently, Ma joined ESPN late last year as the in-house Predictive Analysis Expert appearing on Sportscenter weekly.
The TenXer acquisition is set to strengthen Twitter as a service and comes at the heels of other notable buys: live video streaming app Periscope and the top-of-the-heap talent agency Niche.
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