The Oddpost acquisition by Yahoo (at pretty handsome terms) has been announced. Oddpost provides web-based email and RSS aggregation, funded by Venture Strategy Partners and Draper Associates just months before.
Dave has a decent rationale for the acquisition:
Oddpost turned the idea of what you could do with a browser upside down, by producing a clone of Microsoft Outlook in JavaScript and DHTML running in MSIE. Since then, they have labored in relative obscurity, growing a customer base, raising VC money, adding people, and staying out of the way. Then Google launches Gmail, with a very Oddpostish interface, and someone at Yahoo says "Hmmm, I've seen that somewhere," calls up Ethan and Iain and their new VCs and asks "Are you for sale?" and the rest is history.
With Technorati, Newsgator, Feedbuner, etc., get ready for the Social Software bubblet meme. Or at least some interesting Pops.
