Twitter acquires Dublin startup OpenBack

Twitter has announced it has acquired Dublin-based startup OpenBack for an undisclosed sum.

The move means OpenBack executives will be joining Twitter.

OpenBack specializes in push notifications and allows apps to do it on the device without having to go through third-party internet services.

“We are very excited about this,” said David Shackleton, CEO and co-founder of OpenBack. “[We] I embarked on this journey six years ago to try to bring a new way of making push notifications truly user-friendly for billions of people, and in many ways this opportunity to partner with Twitter fulfills that more than we do ever imagined.”

Mr Shackleton also co-founded mobile top-up company Ding, which recently sold much of its equity valued at over €200 million.

Serial entrepreneur Ray Nolan also served as a director on OpenBack.

“The best push notifications bring people to the conversations that interest them on Twitter, but irrelevant notifications are distracting,” said Jay Sullivan, Twitter’s head of consumer product.

“With millions of people visiting Twitter every day for notifications, we want them to be timely, relevant and engaging. OpenBack and its talented team, joining Twitter, will help us improve our ability to deliver the right notifications at the right time, in a way that puts people’s privacy first.”