Online auction site eBay this week sold recommendation engine StumbleUpon, which it purchased two years ago for $75 million.
EBay sold StumbleUpon back to its founders, Garrett Camp and Geoff Smith, as well as a group of venture capital investors, including Sherpalo Ventures, Accel Partners and August Capita.
In a blog on StumbleUpon’s Web site, Camp wrote that the company is “very excited” about the move.
“This change will help StumbleUpon move quickly and stay true to its focus – helping people discover interesting web content,” he wrote. “Our goal is to make StumbleUpon the web’s largest recommendation engine and we think this is the best way to get us there.”
EBay did not disclose the amount for which it sold StumbleUpon.
Also on Tuesday, eBay said it is planning an initial public offering for its Skype Internet telephone unit, which it intends to complete in the first half of 2010.
In 2008, Skype generated revenues of $551 million, up 44% from 2007; and segment margins of approximately 2%, the company said.
