GoDaddy acquires Node startup Nodejitsu

Update Feb 10: GoDaddy confirmed the deal on Twitter. Read our original report below.

Web hosting company GoDaddy is about to boost its capabilities when it comes to development tools. The company is in the midst of acquiring Nodejitsu, a startup with application hosting and Node package registry services for popular server-side JavaScript framework Node.js, sources told VentureBeat.

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The deal isn’t closed yet, one source said. The companies were trying to finish it in time to announce it at this week’s Node Summit, but it looks like that might not happen, the source said.

The deal could provide several plusses for GoDaddy, including talent, influence in the large Node user community, a working hosting service, and paying customers.

GoDaddy, until recently known more for tacky Danica Patrick commercials than for any real programming chops, is trying to bolster its reputation as more than just a website-in-a-box service provider that competes with budget outfits like 1and1. But not all techies take it seriously. Many developers are more likely to turn to cloud hosters like Linode and DigitalOcean, not to mention fiercely competitive cloud providers like Amazon Web Services.

Nodejitsu could add instant cred. Its customers include Condé Nast and Segment.

Meanwhile, the market around Node.js has been growing, featuring startups like NodeSource, Strongloop, and npm, as well as Node sponsor Joyent itself. Meanwhile more companies, including LinkedIn and Walmart, have been incorporating more Node into their systems.

GoDaddy declined to comment on this report. A Nodejitsu representative did not immediately respond to VentureBeat’s request for comment.

It’s clear that at least some people within GoDaddy know about the Node movement. In 2013 the company open-sourced its Node Cluster Service, which enables engineers to “restart or hot upgrade your web servers with zero downtime or impact to clients,” according to a description on the project’s GitHub page.

“Recently we made some good progress with Node.js and we are starting to invest more on it,” Antonio Silviera, GoDaddy’s vice president of engineering, wrote on his personal blog at the time.

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New York-based Nodejitsu started in 2010. Investors in the startup include Bloomberg Beta, First Round Capital, General Catalyst Partners, RRE Ventures, SV Angel, William Fink, Bob Pasker, and Lenny Pruss, according to the startup’s AngelList page.