eBay Acquires Hunch for $80 Million
eBay announced on Monday it has agreed to acquire Hunch, a company that provides a "taste graph" of personalized recommendations based on users' interests for $80 million. eBay says it will use the Hunch technology to expand its merchandising and relevance capabilities to further improve the shopping experience for its users.
Founded in 2007 by Chris Dixon and former Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake, Hunch launched its website in 2009. The website asks users a series of questions about their interests and preferences, then offers suggestions on products and services that the user may like. The user can then rate the suggestions, allowing the system to "learn" from its mistakes and successes, and Hunch often compiles the data learned from users into reports about various topics.
Dixon says on his blog that Hunch's relationship with eBay goes back to when Hunch began letting other companies use its Taste Graph. Following the completion of the merger, Hunch will continue to operate independently, retaining all of its employees and continuing to conduct business at its New york City headquarters, and the Hunch.com website will remain intact.
Mark Carges, eBay's chief technology officer, says his data science team will begin working with Hunch's 20-man staff soon, and that partnership will anchor eBay's planned expansion into New York. Carges says eBay will hire more data and engineering employees for the new office, in addition to a number of product-oriented employees.
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