Prospero, the provider of the forum software here in Knots, has been acquired.
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Online community developer Mzinga Inc. has acquired Littleton-based Prospero Technologies LLC for an undisclosed amount.
And to pay for the purchase as well as anticipated future growth, Burlington-based Mzinga also closed a $32.5 million round of financing.
“We raised the funds in part to acquire the company, and to do organic growth,” Mzinga Chairman Barry Libert said yesterday. He expects the company to make more acquisitions later this year.
For now, though, Mzinga is working to bring Prospero’s 43 employees into the Burlington office, officials said.
Mzinga, which means beehive in Swahili, develops corporate intranets and wikis, a software used to create collaborative Web sites. The company was formed in August 2007 after the merger of Woburn-based Shared Insights US and Pennsylvania’s KnowledgePlanet Inc. Its clients include many blue-chip corporations.
Prospero Technologies creates blogging forums and other social media platforms, mostly for clients in the media, entertainment and publishing industries.
The company was officially established in 2000, although its roots reach as far back at the mid-1980s.
Up until last week, Prospero was owned by Littleton investor Mallory Ventures Inc.
Libert said Prospero is bringing new clients and “industrial strength technology” to Mzinga.
As more companies institute online networking sites, employees are increasingly turning to their computers to communicate with both colleagues and customers.
And at Mzinga, business has boomed.
The company has 150 employees managing 14,000 online communities, and the site attracts 360,000 new users each month.
Libert said the popularity of the technology is changing how business gets done.
“Everyone is talking and everyone has a voice,” he said.
Replies
Ut-oh. These buyout things are rarely good news.
Years ago I helped host a site on the AboutDotCom network. Everything went fine until they were bought out by the New York Times. They were "not going to make any changes". Well, before they finished with it, they took what worked and turned it into what wouldn't work. They pretty well destroyed the forum division.
I'm not wishing bad. I just know when new owners come in, they bring their own models of the world and sometimes, they aint so good. Later.
I have my fingers crossed. I was just about to post a congratulatory note to Prospero stating how lucky we are to have this site. I have tried other WW sites and find them incredibly 'dense' and littered with all sorts of junk - ads, pictographs, etc.
Let's hope that Knots stays as accessible as it has been.
Frosty
"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
I have tried other WW sites and find them incredibly 'dense' and littered with all sorts of junk - ads, pictographs, etc.
Let's hope that Knots stays as accessible as it has been.
If not, I may bid you all farewell and adieu. (no celebrations, please!) I hate wasting my time wading through marketing crap.
Wait a minute mister! You can't just up and leave. You owe us big time; not sure what you owe but I'll think of something.
:-)
Hey, they might expand the capabilities of the Ignore button...............
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 3/4/2008 8:52 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
Yeah, I'm just blowing smoke... although, I do hate marketing clutter -- it tends to turn a valuable web site into the internet equivalent of crapware.
"I hate wasting my time wading through marketing crap." I'd think that would have me to do with Taunton than Prospero.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
I remember all the complaints when Taunton switched from WebCrossing to Prospero. Several regulars jumped ship then too.
ne sutor ultra crepidam
Prospero sets the standard on forums. Nothing comes close. When AboutDotCom made their (disastrous results) change, they switched away from a Prospero base and into something else. It was horrible, tedious, cumbersome to navigate.
That's simply not the case, there is no clear leader in forum software right now, it's a real horserace. Jive Software comes to mind immediately as one of the leader pack, definitely a favorite among technology companies who have some of the largest communities (SAP has over 1 million active users on their Jive powered forum).HiveLive also has a very nice solution that blends wikis and social profiles into the mix, which is exactly what Mzinga is trying to deliver as an integrated suite. Prospero, by their own admission, focuses on publishers so to say they set the standard for the category is a real stretch.
To each his own opinion.
I've frequented numerous types of forums, and none that I've encountered come close to user friendliness as Prospero.
What are the chances that Mzinga has someone on staff who really understands how to set up a search engine? <:))
Regards,
Ron
I would have no idea, in all honesty I barely even knew the name Mzinga before reading about this. Generally speaking, I am suspicious of roll-ups.
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