Groupon just announced that its acquired mobile development firm Mob.ly in addition to opening up offices in Silicon Valley to tap the talent pool. The pieces are coming together for Groupon to begin a major mobile push.
Mob.ly was led by former Yahoo! Senior Director of Product Management Mihir Shah and Yishai Lerner, former Director of Engineering at Carrier IQ, and collectively the team at Mob.ly was responsible for a number of high-profile products, including Yahoo’s Sketch-a-Search iPhone app and OpenTable’s apps for Android and the Palm Pre.
The acquisition obviously signals Groupon’s intentions to bolster its mobile offerings. Currently, its iPhone app only allows users to find and purchase nearby deals, search for those in different cities and redeem coupons, but much more is undoubtedly in the works. Opening up a presence in Silicon Valley will also help the company find the talent it needs to position itself for the future.
No mention was made by Groupon as to what mobile plans it has, but more announcements should be on the horizon soon, stay tuned.
