Google acquires Firebase.

Google has acquired Firebase, a cloud service company that allows developers to build web and mobile apps quickly and easily with front-end code, as well as store and sync data in realtime.

It will be added to Google Cloud Platform’s portfolio, which offers hosting on the same supporting infrastructure used for Google Search and YouTube.

Firebase was founded in 2011 by entrepreneurs James Tamplin and Andrew Lee. The former obtained a master’s degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, while the latter studied Computer Science and Electrical Engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institution of Technology in Indiana.

As Firebase joins forces with Google, the current team will remain in place, and both Tamplin and Lee will remain in control of the company’s operations.

A successful three years

In May 2012 – just nine months after it started up – Firebase raised $1.4 million (£871,000) in seed funding from various venture capital firms, and a further $5.6 million (£3.5 million) in June 2013.

In a blog post announcing Google’s acquisition of the company, Firebase co-founder and CEO James Tamplin said: “With Google’s engineering talent, resources, and technical infrastructure, we’ll be able to do much more, much faster. Together we’ll deliver a complete platform for mobile and web apps.”

Google and Firebase plan to reveal more information on 4 November at the Google Cloud Platform Live event, where they say a demonstration (and live stream) of the new Firebase features will take place.

Google placing further emphasis on apps

In April, Google announced that app content would be appearing in search results worldwide, in order to make it easier for users to find and access content on their mobiles.

Google Cloud Platform’s director of product management, Greg DeMichille, explained: “Mobile is one of the fastest-growing categories of app development, but it’s also still too hard for most developers. Firebase makes it easy to build applications that work offline and has full-featured libraries for all major web and mobile platforms, including Android and iOS.”

Have an informal conversation with one of our marketing experts.

Setup a thirty minute introduction call with one of our team. We'll tell you more about theEword and our approach, and we'd love to hear more about your business.