Pocket for Mozilla

Mozilla is best known for creating the popular Firefox web browser. The company has made its first-ever acquisition by purchasing the read-later service Pocket for an undisclosed amount.

Mozilla's CEO Chris Beard said:

"We believe that the discovery and accessibility of high quality web content is key to keeping the internet healthy by fighting against the rising tide of centralization and walled gardens. Pocket provides people with the tools they need to engage with and share content on their own terms, independent of hardware platform or content silo, for a safer, more empowered and independent online experience."

Pocket allows users for saving links from all the web to a reading list they can access on any devices. With more than 10 million monthly active users on iOS, Android and the web, the service serves more than 3 billion saves after being launched in 2007.

Pocket - Mozilla

Acquired by Mozilla, the company is allowed to operate independently and run its service as it is. The acquisition enables Mozilla to leverage Pocket's core team to develop its Context Graph project that is a sort of recommendation engine for search that focuses on using contextual information about users to point them to other relevant contents.

According to Pocket's founder and CEO:

"Pocket will continue on as a wholly-owned, independent subsidiary of Mozilla Corporation. We’ll be staying in our office, and our name will still be on the wall. Our team isn’t changing and our existing roadmap has been reinforced and is clearer than ever."

The two are continuing their efforts in expanding the reach of high-quality contents while staying true to their values. As Pocket's founder said: "both Pocket and Mozilla alike: Protecting the openness of the web and creating a content platform built around trust and privacy."

Besides making revenues from ads and analytics. Pocket also sells premium subscription. It also previously raised at least $14.5 million in funding.