Nokia Acquires Social Networking Site

Nokia announced today that it has acquired "certain assets" of Plum, a privately held company.

Plum’s tagline is "making websites social," and the company says it helps websites become social by powering Groups in the Travel, Education, Entertainment, Publishing and Not-for-Profit sectors.

"We have come a long way since 2004 when we made our first ‘napkin sketch’ on a sailboat," says Plum Founder Hans Peter Brøndmo. "Today, Plum Groups is a service for those of us that want to share the more private parts of our lives with smaller groups of people we are close to such as family and friends. It fills the need for “private” sharing and conversations."

Plum

BoomTown’s Kara Swisher, who interviewed Brøndmo, says, "Sites like Plum are what many like to call microsocial networking, used by people or Web sites who want less the overwhelming experience that the large social networks have become and more an ability to create with a smaller group."

Nokia says Plum will complement its Social Location services, and will become part of the company’s Services unit.

Plum employs about 10 people, and has offices in Boston and San Francisco. It’s been backed by Vulcan Capital and Levensohn Venture Partners.

Financial terms of the deal between Nokia and Plum have not been disclosed.