Flipboard Acquires Feed-Building Startup Graze to Expand Open Social Web Monetisation

News magazine software firm Flipboard has announced the acquisition of Graze, a Portland-based startup that provides tools for creating, customising, and monetising feeds on the open social web. The purchase strengthens Flipboard’s ongoing investments in decentralised social networking environments where users maintain control over their data and audiences.

What Happened

Flipboard reached an agreement to acquire Graze, a two-person company launched 21 months ago that had raised $1 million in early 2025. Graze specialises in feed-creation tools designed around the AT Protocol, an open technical standard that enables different social applications to share the same underlying network, including the Bluesky platform. Over its operation, Graze reports delivering more than 41 billion posts across 12 million individuals and currently hosts over 7,000 feeds.

The financial terms of the transaction were not publicly disclosed. Flipboard had previously integrated Graze’s technology into its own application, Surf, and the acquisition materialized after both companies recognized they held aligned goals and were duplicating certain development efforts.

Key Highlights

• Contextual Advertising Model: Rather than relying on cross-web user tracking, Graze’s revenue model relies on contextual ad placements tied to specific community topics.
• Revenue Share: Income generated through advertising is divided, with 70 percent allocated to the feed curator and 30 percent retained by Graze.
• Platform Monetisation: Around 60 percent of the traffic running through Graze’s 7,000-plus feeds is actively monetised.
• Operational Continuity: Graze co-founder and CEO Devin Gaffney noted that partnering with Flipboard provides immediate access to established advertiser relationships to scale faster.

Why This Matters

The open social web offers an alternative to platforms dominated by single corporations. Under the AT Protocol ecosystem, communities and curators can assemble targeted content streams that users can set as primary feeds or embed into compatible apps. However, enabling sustainable operations for community curators has remained a major challenge.

According to Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, the ad technology developed by Graze avoids personal surveillance and privacy violations while ensuring economic returns are distributed directly to feed builders rather than retained exclusively by a single network operator.

What to Watch Next

Following the integration, Flipboard plans to expand the use of Graze’s feed-building capabilities. The technology will be rolled out beyond the Bluesky application to encompass other software running on the AT Protocol, including Flipboard’s own core platform. Users will be given the ability to build and manage their own feeds natively within this broadened environment.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Graze?

Graze is a startup that develops tools allowing creators to build, publish, customise, and monetise feeds on the AT Protocol, most notably within the Bluesky ecosystem.

How does monetisation work on Graze feeds?

Monetisation operates via contextual advertising chosen by curators for specific communities rather than surveillance-based tracking. Ad proceeds are split 70/30, with 70 percent going directly to the curator.

What are the terms of the acquisition?

Flipboard did not disclose the financial details of the deal. Graze operated with two team members and had previously raised $1 million at the start of 2025.

Source: TechCrunch reporting based on statements from Flipboard and Graze.