LinkedIn Buys Run Hop, Seeks to Make Feeds More Engaging

By Deepa Seetharaman

LinkedIn Corp. snapped up Run Hop Inc., a small startup specializing in online content distribution, to accelerate its efforts to make users' feeds more engaging.

A spokesman described the move as an acqui-hire -- Silicon Valley slang for an acquisition that targets talent rather than technology -- that fits into the professional social network's broader investment in content.

"We wanted the co-founders' talent and expertise in content," the LinkedIn spokesman said Thursday. "It has long been a strategic priority for us, and we believe their knowledge and capabilities can help us accelerate the execution of our content road map."

He declined to disclose the price.

Run Hop, founded in 2014 and based in San Francisco, developed services designed to show users articles, videos and other content tailored to their interests. Its services weren't widely released.

Run Hop co-founders Pete Davies and Evan Solomon have taken new roles at LinkedIn. Mr. Davies is a senior product manager on the content team, while Mr. Solomon is a senior software engineer.

In his new role, Mr. Davies will help LinkedIn show its users more relevant articles, videos and other posts within their feeds. He will lead LinkedIn's strategy on publishing and sharing content.

Before founding Run Hop, Messrs. Davies and Solomon worked at Medium, the digital publishing platform led by Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

Write to Deepa Seetharaman at Deepa.Seetharaman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2016 21:42 ET (01:42 GMT)

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