Note-Taking App Flomo to Acquire ByteDance’s Mubu from Feishu

The developer of flomo, a note-taking tool, has expressed intentions to acquire ByteDance’s office tool Feishu’s mind mapping software Mubu. Jiemian News reported on March 15 that flomo co-founder Plidezus confirmed the news but did not reveal the exact amount of the purchase.

Launched in 2016, Mubu is a management tool that combines notes and mind maps to help users manage tasks, devise plans, and organize brainstorming in a productive manner. In 2018, ByteDance wholly acquired Mubu for millions of yuan. Since then, the product and development team have been incorporated into Feishu.

At the time of ByteDance’s acquisition of Mubu, many Chinese internet giants had just begun offering enterprise services, with documents being a key competitive factor. In 2017, long before the Mubu acquisition, ByteDance participated in the round B financing of online document product Shimo and became its majority shareholder.

Sources close to the Feishu-flomo deal, as reported by 36Kr, have stated that Feishu Docs’ features overlap with those of Mubu. After the departure of Mubu’s two founders from Feishu in 2021, the company had no plans to continue maintaining Mubu.

Flomo, the acquiring company, is a card note product that helps users quickly record and review their notes. Its founders Plidezus and Lightory have over 10 years of experience in product design, operations, and technology.

SEE ALSO: ByteDance-Backed Feishu Confirms Head of Business Expansion in Japan

Flomo has announced that Mubu will continue to operate independently in the future without any deliberate attempts to attract a large user base or increase revenue through the use of ads or other methods that could compromise user experience. Instead, the focus will be on long-term operations.

Sources close to the deal have emphasized that Mubu requires a team with extensive experience in product development and operations for its maintenance and updates. The products and operational capabilities of flomo are reportedly the key factors behind Feishu’s decision to pursue this transaction.