Knowingly Corp, an Austin-based startup, has acquired the pathbreaking tech news site Gigaom and plans to relaunch it this summer, according to a release from the company.
The deal, which was cut for an undisclosed sum, was for Gigaom’s website and part of its asset library. Knowingly Corp declined to disclose Gigaom’s purchase price.
The resurrection of Gigaom came as a surprise to the site’s former writers, who were unaware of their ex-employer’s fate, according to a tweet from Laura Hazard Owen, a former managing editor of the site who is now deputy editor at future-of-news publication Nieman Journalism Lab.
.@pkafka BTW, this is news to every @gigaom writer
— Laura Hazard Owen (@laurahazardowen) May 26, 2015
News of the deal was reported first by Re/code’s Peter Kafka on Twitter.
The acquisition is the latest wrinkle in an ongoing story that began earlier this year, when Gigaom abruptly folded. Citing financial troubles, the site suddenly stopped publishing new content. Shortly thereafter, many of its writers were snapped up by the business magazine Fortune. A Re/code story published in the wake of the site’s implosion said that managers were aware of the financial turmoil for “more than two months.”
The site’s demise caused some in media circles to urge caution for those who would launch venture-backed online news publications. It also prompted questions about the viability of Gigaom’s business model, which relied on a combination of research and events.
The release makes no mention of purchasing Gigaom’s events or research businesses.
Updated to include a no-comment from Knowingly Corp.
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