By Timothy Hay
Microsoft Corp. has acquired LiveLoop Inc., a San Francisco
startup that developed a service to let people collaborate on
PowerPoint documents.
A brief statement from Microsoft said the LiveLoop team will
help Microsoft develop new collaboration tools across various
Office applications. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
LiveLoop said on its website that the company will shut down on
April 24. It asked users to retrieve any data before that date.
LiveLoop has said it can convert presentations, like those done
in PowerPoint, into Web URLs that can be shared without the
download of additional software.
The company was fairly quiet about its operations and about its
fundraising. New Enterprise Associates and Webb Investment Network
both list LiveLoop as a portfolio company. The firms couldn't
immediately be reached for comment.
Microsoft has been adding to its productivity-application suite
of products.
Last month, in another deal with undisclosed terms, Microsoft
acquired Sunrise Atelier Inc., which made a calendar application
that could function as a stand-alone feature or be built into other
Microsoft services. Sunrise Atelier was backed by 500 Startups,
Balderton Capital, BoxGroup, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, NextView
Ventures, Resolute Ventures, SV Angel and Terrapin Bale.
In December, Microsoft acquired Acompli Inc. in another deal
whose terms weren't disclosed. Acompli identifies the
highest-priority emails in a user's inbox, and it finds free blocks
of time in the user's digital calendar to help schedule
appointments easily. Acompli was backed by Redpoint Ventures,
Harrison Metal and Felicis Ventures.
Write to Timothy Hay at timothy.hay@wsj.com
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