by Sarah Perez (@sarahintampa)
New York-based Citymaps, a social mapping application backed by $12 million in venture funding, has been acquired by TripAdvisor, the companies have announced. The service, which serves both as a mapping and navigational tool as well as a travel guide of sorts, will continue on as a standalone business at TripAdvisor, following the deal’s close.
Deal terms were not disclosed.
Co-founded by Elliot Cohen and Aaron Rudenstine in 2010, the startup began as an app that aggregated business information from third-party sources, including social networks, before turning into the more fully-functional tool for travelers it is today.
Though most consumers today are content with using standard mapping applications like those from Apple and Google, Citymaps was still able to carve out a niche for itself by offering a feature set that the big guys’ didn’t have. [Full Story]