Hasta La Ideas

The crafty types at Etsy are taking their love for collage to the digital realm by scooping up photo collage app Mixel and its team of mobile-savvy stars for an undisclosed sum. Created by designer Khoi Vinh and developer Scott Ostler, Mixel allows users to make, share, and remix collages with results that been described as both “gorgeous” and “highly addictive.” Vinh and his team sensed that they hit on their hands soon after launch. “We see a lot of activity at night, and a lot of activity on Saturday, too,” he said of early usage patterns. “So it’s very different from the Web, which many people will surf during work.”

Etsy is tasking team Team Mixel, which also includes Akiva Leffert and Roy Stanfield, with taking the online marketplace’s mobile platform to the next level. “Mobile visits on Etsy grew 244% in the past year, and right now they represent a steady 25% of visits year round,” noted Etsy creative director Randy Hunt in a blog post announcing the acquisition. “That’s not too shabby, but something quite astounding happened this past holiday season: almost one in three visits came from shoppers on their mobile devices. We expect that trend to accelerate, so doing more with mobile is one of our top priorities in 2013.”

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