ThinkNear, a Los Angeles developer of mobile advertising technology, has been acquired by TeleNav, a Silicon Valley provider of mobile GPS systems.

TeleNav of Sunnyvale said the deal closed last week, and ThinkNear’s backers received $22.5 million, which includes $18.5 million in cash, plus restricted stock and options.

ThinkNear operates a growing location-based advertising network. Its “situational targeting” technology displays ads based on location and context, with the ability to target within 100 meters. Its co-founders are Chief Executive Eli Portnoy and Chief Technology Officer John Hinnegan, both veterans of Amazon.com.

ThinkNear’s 12 employees are expected to join TeleNav’s mobile local advertising group, which will form a new platform for Telenav called Scout Advertising.

The company’s backers included IA Ventures, Google Ventures and Qualcomm Ventures.