Little Eye Labs, an Indian startup that builds mobile app analysis tools, has been bought by Facebook.
Founded about a year ago by four Bangalore-based technology professionals Giridhar Murthy, Kumar Rangarajan, Satyam Kandula and Lakshman Kakkirala, Little Eye is backed by GSF and VenturEast Tenet Fund.
Android developers and testers use Little Eye Labs to measure, analyse and optimise the performance of their apps. The company has said that the deal will allow it to leverage Facebook's 'world-class infrastructure' to help improve performance of the social network's apps.
Impact
"For us, this is an opportunity to make an impact on the more than 1 billion people who use Facebook," said the Little Eye Labs team in a blog post.
Facebook's engineering manager Subbu Subramanian told Reuters: "The Little Eye Labs technology will help us to continue improving our Android codebase to make more efficient, higher-performing apps."
The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but a report by TechCrunch estimates the price could have been as much as $15 million (£9 million, AU$16 million). The entire team at Little Eye Labs will be moved to Facebook's headquarters in Menio Park, California.
The acquisition marks the social network giant's first deal in India. The deal is thought to have been done to boost interest in India's startup ecosystem, where high profile acquisitions are often rare.
The deal represents "a giant step from an Indian startup ecosystem perspective", said Praveen Bhadada, from Zinnov, a consultancy specialising in tech companies based in Bangalore.
The company have also said that crrent customers of Little Eye for Android will receive further information on plans to odder a free version of Little Eye until June 2014.
