Apple acquires video discovery startup Matcha

matcha logo

Apple has acquired second screen startup Matcha, according to a new report. The company helped users find interesting movies and TV shows online based on their own preferences, as well as those of their friends on various social networks.

The company mysteriously disappeared back in May of this year, leaving nothing but a brief note on its website saying that the service would no longer be available and that all user data had been deleted. And now we know what happened to it…

Here’s AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski:

“Now it’s clear why. The company has been acquired by Apple.

A spokesman for Apple confirmed the deal to AllThingsD. A purchase price couldn’t be learned at this time, though VentureBeat which first reported the dealsays it’s valued at between $1 million to $1.5 million.”

Before shutting down in May, Matcha ran a fairly popular recommendation service that aggregated content from a number of streaming services including Netflix, iTunes, Hulu and Amazon Prime. Users could access it via the website or mobile app.

matchaMatcha’s iPad app

This is just the latest in a string of acquisitions for Apple, who has also recently snatched up the low-power wireless chip maker Passif Semiconductor, the HopStop transit app, and the location-based data startup Locationary, in recent months.

There’s no word on what Apple has planned for Matcha and its video recommendation technology, but with one TV product on the market and others rumored to be in the pipeline, it’s not hard to speculate.