Mobile publishing startup Onswipe acquired by Beanstock, service will live on

TechStars alum and former Bloomberg reality TV headliner Onswipe today addressed acquisition rumors, confirming its sale to publisher-centric ad tech company Beanstock Media in a stock and cash deal.

Onswipe, which optimizes web publishers’ sites for mobile devices, rose to New York tech fame back in 2011 after quickly signing publisher deals and starring in Bloomberg’s “TechStars” reality TV show. Originally, Onswipe focused exclusively on tablets. Later, the company expanded to support iPhone and Android devices.

Over the past three years, the startup reports it’s raised $13.3 million in total — a $1 million seed, a $5 million Series A, and a $7.3 million Series B. Participating investors included Spark Capital, Lerer Ventures, Thrive Capital, and SV Angel.

According to Beanstock chief Jim Waltz, the Onswipe brand will live on following the deal: “At this point we plan to retain the brand,” said Waltz, and “all [Onswipe] executives will retain executive level roles.“

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Although the Onswipe’s HTML 5 mobile web service will live on, Waltz hinted in a call with VentureBeat that Onswipe’s tech may be applied to new products, including native apps. Onswipe’s ad-tech products, however, will be replaced by Beanstock’s, according to Waltz.

In the last year, Onswipe claims its grown from 12,805,000 monthly active uniques to 45,814,000. Since launch, Onswipe-powered sites have “been used by over 400 million unique iOS devices,” Onswipe cofounder Jason Baptiste told VentureBeat by phone yesterday.

Waltz tells us that Beanstock’s end goal is to “help ad supported publishers make money.” But prior to the deal, Beanstock was lacking on mobile. Thus, the company’s Onswipe buy centers around mobile expansion.