Skype, the company which offers internet-based phone calls will buy the one-year old startup Group Me, a group messaging services, the company has announced. GroupMe allows users to create private phone groups with others, send text messages throughout the group and set up free conference calls. This comes soon after the announcement of Microsoft buys Skype, a deal which is still pending.

At peak times, Skype has up to 30 million users online. In total, 175 million people use Skype's services on a monthly basis. GroupMe was founded in 2010 at the Techcrunch Disrupt Hackathon and is headquartered in New York, New York. The financial terms of the Group Me acquisition have not been disclosed. The investors behind GroupMe include  include Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Betaworks, SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Founder Collective, as well as a group of angel investors.

Check the official announcements here and here.

editor@romania-insider.com

(photo source: GroupMe)