Flipboard Acquires Feed Startup Graze to Monetize Open Social Web

Graze, which launched 21 months ago, specializes in building and managing custom feeds for platforms using Bluesky’s AT Protocol. The startup has already processed over 41 billion posts for 12 million users. Unlike the surveillance-heavy advertising standard, Graze uses contextual targeting; ads are placed based on the content of a community-curated feed rather than individual user behavior. Curators maintain control over which ads appear in their streams and retain 70% of the generated revenue.

Flipboard CEO Mike McCue noted that the acquisition stems from a shared vision for a decentralized social ecosystem where economics are distributed rather than captured by a single entity. The two companies previously collaborated on Flipboard’s Surf app, leading to the decision to consolidate their efforts. Post-acquisition, Flipboard intends to scale this feed-building technology across all applications utilizing the AT Protocol. While terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the acquisition represents a strategic consolidation for Graze, a two-person team that had secured $1 million in funding earlier this year.