Silicon Beach Report Aug. 15: Snapchat to Acquire Search Engine App Vurb for $100M

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Snapchat to acquire search engine app Vurb for $100 million, three L.A. companies bidding for Gawker Media, FireFly Games Raise $10 million, and more.

FireFly Games Raises $10 Million

Mobile game developer FireFly Games of West L.A. raised a $10 million round, reports Venture Beat. The company plans to use the funds to make games based on Hollywood intellectual properties. The company said the round places Firefly’s valuation at $100 million.

Three L.A. Companies Bidding for Gawker Media

Three L.A. companies, J2 Global Inc.’s Ziff Davis, Univision, and Penske Media are bidding for Gawker Media in a bankruptcy auction, reports the New York Times. Ziff Davis is seen as the favorite to win the bid.

SpaceX Launches, Then Lands 6th Rocket

SpaceX launched and then landed on earth its sixth rocket, reports the Christian Science Monitor. The rocket landed on a water barge after delivering a commercial communications satellite for SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation into orbit.

Snapchat to Acquire Search Engine App Vurb for $100M

Snapchat has reached an agreement to purchase search engine company Vurb for about $110 million, reports The Information. Vurb is a recommendation app that helps user find sights to see, restaurants, books, events, and music.

Snapchat Discover Viewers Grow But Engagement Drops

Two weeks after Snapchat redesigned its Discover section, channel partners noticed a significant uptick in overall viewers, but total views, completion rates, and time spent per user declined, reports DigiDay. The median Snapchat Discover channel doubled daily users to 1 million and the top 10 percent of Discover channels went from roughly 2 million daily users to 3.5 million by the end of June.

Technology reporter Garrett Reim can be reached at [email protected]. Follow @garrettreim on Twitter for the latest in L.A. tech news.

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