SixApart announced today that it has acquired Rojo, the Bloglines-like web-based RSS reader for an undisclosed amount – rumors say something less than $5 million. As a result of this acquisition, basically two things are going to happen. Firstly Chris Alden, Rojo CEO will now run the MoveableType division of SixApart as a senior executive, and second, while SixApart isn't planning to further develop the core technology of Rojo, it will further integrate it into some of their products, notably the Blogger-competing blogging platform Vox.
This acquisition is the fourth of its kind, to follow Ask-Bloglines, Fox-Newsroo, and Yahoo!-SearchFox. What I find particularly interesting about it is that the main reason for SixApart to buy Rojo is not the technology, but indeed the people that run it. Along with Chris Alden, Aaron Emigh (Rojo CTO) will also join as an executive. Apparently, both have a strong media background – and with the current state of SixApart – I guess that's exactly what they needed.
Launched way back in 2003 when web-based RSS readers were nearly unheard of, Rojo's so far received a little more than $3 million in funding. They are known for their good use of AJAX and focus on design, and have had quite a supportive user base so far. While I personally prefer Bloglines over Rojo, it's definitely the second most competent web-based RSS reader there is. The official press release of the news is here.
