December 10, 2012

Family networking and genealogy website MyHeritage announced a $25 million funding round and the purchase of longtime rival Geni.com.

MyHeritage brings family history to the masses. (Shutterstock)

MyHeritage was founded in 2005 by a group of Israelis with a “passion for genealogy and a strong grasp of Internet technology.”

The Israeli family-oriented networking service is reported to have dished out ‘eight figures’ for it US counterpart’s users and records, though no formal financial records were disclosed. The purchase of Geni.com is the eighth and largest acquisition made by MyHeritage.

MyHeritage’s network is now said to have 72 million registered users, 1.5 billion profiles and 27 million family trees.

“Well established as an innovative and social brand, Geni.com is a natural addition to MyHeritage and together we look forward to taking collaborative family history to new heights,” said Founder and CEO of MyHeritage, Gilad Japhet. “Over the past few years our dedicated workforce has transformed MyHeritage from a garage start-up into a successful, dynamic and global company. With new funds, impressive new talent from Geni.com and new world-class leaders on our Board, we look forward to fulfilling our potential and accomplishing our mission to bring family history to the masses.”

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