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Abhimanyu Ghoshal
Managing EditorAbhimanyu is TNW's Managing Editor, and is all about personal devices, Asia's tech ecosystem, as well as the intersection of technology and Abhimanyu is TNW's Managing Editor, and is all about personal devices, Asia's tech ecosystem, as well as the intersection of technology and culture. Hit him up on Twitter, or write in: [email protected].
Project management app Trello has been acquired by Atlassian – the makers of the JIRA suite of services for software development teams – for $425 million.
The purchase will help Atlassian round out its portfolio of offerings that has predominantly been geared towards IT industry clients; Trello, with its Kanban-style boards and a flexible card-based interface can be used for managing all sorts of projects and teams – whether that’s gearing up to launch a new restaurant or planning a weekend potluck.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, co-founder and CEO of Atlassian, noted that the two companies’ target is to reach 100 million monthly users together.
That’s a lofty goal, but it isn’t impossible, given that Trello noted in 2014 that it had roughly 4.75 million users and has since expanded its user base to 19 million. For reference, Evernote hit the 100 million mark after its first six years in mid-2014 and claimed roughly 200 million last June.
In a blog post, Trello CEO Michael Pryor said that nothing would change for existing users, as it’d continue to be offered as a standalone service. Following the acquisition, Trello will see increased research and development efforts to improve its offering. Hopefully, the company will be able to hold its new owner to that promise.