Facebook on Monday confirmed the acquisition of Onavo, a Palo Alto-based startup that makes data-compression software to help minimize data usage on smartphones. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, and Onavo will remain a "standalone brand" within Facebook, according to Onavo's blog post.
Three-year-old Onavo will also retain its Tel Aviv office, giving Facebook a new office on the ground in Israel.
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The acquisition provides Facebook with the kind of technology that will help the company build the mobile app for its next one billion users.
As Facebook continues to expand into emerging markets abroad, creating an app that is affordable as well as functional is a major undertaking for the world's largest social network. Data plans represent a barrier to entry for many potential users who either can't afford them or don't have the necessary Wi-Fi strength to operate the app.
We are joining the Facebook team http://t.co/wEMokuq2DC
— Onavo (@onavo) October 14, 2013
Facebook has been working to solve this problem by testing and building its mobile apps with data usage in mind. Facebook regularly experiments with old versions of Android at its Menlo Park headquarters to simulate the environment in which its future users will encounter the app. To further understand the marketplace, Facebook sent a handful of engineers into a market in the Philippines earlier this year to purchase the best phone they could find for less than $50.
In addition to building a better Facebook app, the purchase of Onavo also plays into the company's mission to bring Internet access to all corners of the globe through Internet.org.
"We’re excited to join their team, and hope to play a critical role in reaching one of Internet.org’s most significant goals — using data more efficiently, so that more people around the world can connect and share," wrote Onavo's co-founders, Guy Rosen and Roi Tiger, on the company blog.
Facebook echoed Onavo's announcement.
"Onavo will be an exciting addition to Facebook," the company shared in a statement. "We expect Onavo’s data compression technology to play a central role in our mission to connect more people to the Internet, and their analytic tools will help us provide better, more efficient mobile products.”
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