MSNBC.com has acquired EveryBlock, a Chicago-based Web site that collects local news and public information on a block-by-block level for 15 cities.
Terms of the cash deal, which was announced Monday, were not disclosed. MSNBC.com is a joint venture between Microsoft and NBC Universal.
Adrian Holovaty, a Naperville native, founded EveryBlock in 2007 with funding through July from a two-year, $1.1 million grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.
“We’ve known that the end was near for a long time because our grant was for a fixed period of time,” Holovaty said in an interview Monday. “I’ve been out there talking to funders in various shapes and forms for a while now.”
Holovaty was introduced to MSNBC.com through mutual contacts.
Charlie Tillinghast, president of MSNBC.com, said the company wanted to work with EveryBlock and considered an investment in it, but ultimately decided on an acquisition because such a deal would make the transfer of intellectual property and technology easier. Holovaty said he also preferred an acquisition, which would free him to focus on developing the Web site rather than running a business.
“I’m a product guy and pretty much everyone on the team is focused on the product,” he said. “We’re not that excited about filing expenses and doing the day-to-day grind of running a start-up. [The deal] gives us more freedom to do what we’re really good at.”
EveryBlock amasses local news stories, as well as public information on crime, property and business licenses, and makes the data searchable by address, ZIP code and neighborhood. The site also aggregates reviews of local businesses from Yelp, photos from Flickr and Craigslist listings.
Tillinghast said EveryBlock will retain its original look and feel. MSNBC.com is looking to bolster its local news section with certain EveryBlock-powered features and partnerships with local organizations in which information would be shared.
Holovaty said he would like to add more features to EveryBlock and expand the site to other cities. EveryBlock has six employees — four based in Chicago.
“We try to look at one-time costs — setting up a new data set and then never worrying about it again,” he said. “That’s a big philosophy of ours. That lets us scale out without getting a ton of people.”
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wawong@tribune.com
