EBay sells StumbleUpon back to founders

StumbleUpon, a company that alerts web surfers to similar websites, has been bought back from eBay by its founders. This effectively reverses the 2007 takeover of StumbleUpon by the American auction site.

although StumbleUpon continues to perform well, eBay wants to divest parts that do not fit well with its core business. The surf aid was therefore put on display in September. The company was founded in 2001 by Garrett Camp and Geoff Smith, who have now bought it back from eBay.

StumbleUpon gives its users personalized recommendations for potentially interesting content. These recommendations are made on the basis of input from the user community, which, among other things, evaluates websites using a toolbar. In 2006, the site managed to recruit one million registered users. A year later, the company was acquired by eBay for $75 million. The site now has nearly 7.5 million users.

It is not known how much Camp and Smith paid for StumbleUpon, but Camp reports on his blog that they have been financially supported by a number of investors for the retrieval of their child. Last weekend it was also announced that eBay plans to sell Skype back to its founders. Reuters reported Tuesday, however, that the parties are still far from reaching an agreement.