Facebook Inc has acquired the start-up behind the popular fitness tracking app Moves as it expands beyond its namesake service into a company with multiple, differentiated mobile apps.
Launched in 2013, the mobile app ‘Moves’ can track the distance consumers walk or run and measure the calories burned. Since its launch, the app has been downloaded 4 million times on Android phones and the iPhone.
The world’s largest online social network bought ProtoGeo Oy, the Finnish company behind the app, for an undisclosed sum. This acquisition by Facebook will give it an entree into the nascent market for fitness and health monitoring technology.
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Facebook said Moves, which would continue to operate as a separate app, fit into its recent strategy of offering a variety of standalone mobile apps, such as Instagram for photo-sharing, Facebook Messenger for messaging and WhatsApp.