--- title: 'Bluesky feed & AT Proto startup Graze acquired by Flipboard' date: '2026-08-26T09:19:13-07:00' type: post word_count: 878 char_count: 6182 tokens: 1142 categories: - Portland --- # Bluesky feed & AT Proto startup Graze acquired by Flipboard One of the most challenging timelines in the Portland startup community is the length of time between founding a company and successfully reaching a liquidity event for that effort. An acquisition, an IPO, a PE deal… something that rewards the founders for their efforts. So when a local startup manages to start, grow, and exit in a matter of years — rather than a matter of decades — it’s worth taking note. [Bluesky feed and AT Proto startup Graze has been acquired by Flipboard](https://graze.leaflet.pub/3mtypcuxxc22p). > What began as a provocation on my blog has become the most important work I’ve done in my career. In 21 months, we’ve sent over 41 billion posts to 12 million people, and I’m more convinced than ever that we have the playbook for how to re-orient the attention economy, and start pulling us back out of the widening gyre. To take us to the next stage of that work, we’re joining Flipboard. > > Running a company is a lot more than just building a product and articulating a vision people believe in. More often than not, we found ourselves slowed down by being a small team wearing a half dozen hats we didn’t know we needed at the start. As I got closer with Mike over the last year, I realized that much of that was duplicative of the hard work Flipboard had already done, and would take years we can’t afford in order to seize the “open social” moment. It started to gel that working more closely together would help us move faster and multiply our effect by bringing the novel aspects of our work into Flipboard. As you may remember, Flipboard rose to prominence around the launch of the Apple iPad when it created an innovative new way of consuming content from the Internet. On a new form factor like a tablet. Modern day Flipboard has evolved into more of a social network and media platform. Making targeted feeds a huge upside to delivering precisely the exact topics to users. That’s where the magic of Graze comes in. According to [Malia Spencer at the Portland Business Journal](https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2026/08/27/graze-acquired-flipboard-bluesky.html): > Graze Social, which was founded by a pair of Portland tech vets in 2024, was acquired by Palo Alto-based Flipboard. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Graze raised $1 million last year from investors. > > As part of the deal, two of Graze’s team members, including co-founder Devin Gaffney, are joining Flipboard and will be remote workers, said Portland-based Gaffney. He noted that co-founders Peat Bakke and Andrew Lisowski both left last year. According to our friends at [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2026/flipboard-acquires-portland-startup-graze-in-bid-to-re-orient-the-attention-economy/): > Under the direction of Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company has[ heavily invested](https://about.flipboard.com/press/flipboard-adds-bluesky-and-pixelfed-to-further-embrace-federated-social-web/) in open social protocols like AT Protocol, ActivityPub and RSS through initiatives like its [Surf browser](https://about.flipboard.com/press/announcing-surf-the-first-browser-for-the-open-social-web/) and “Social Websites” product. > > The acquisition combines Flipboard’s front-end discovery tools with Graze’s back-end algorithmic engine. According to [TechCrunch](https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/26/flipboard-acquires-graze-the-feed-builder-working-to-monetize-the-open-social-web/): > In an interview with TechCrunch, Flipboard CEO Mike McCue praised the adtech involved, saying that “it doesn’t have to surveil anybody, and it doesn’t have to violate people’s privacy…so that’s a really fantastic vision. And the key thing is that all the economics aren’t just going to one player.” > > The ad revenue,” he added, “is being shared with the feed builder.” > > Flipboard had been using Graze’s feed-building technology in [its new app, Surf,](https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/18/flipboard-launches-surf-a-new-app-for-browsing-the-open-social-web/) which led to the two companies working more closely together. It turned out that the outfits shared a vision for how the open social ecosystem could grow, but they were also duplicating each other’s work. (Fun Portland startup community fact: In 2012, [Evan Doll, cofounder of Flipboard, was a speaker](https://web.archive.org/web/20120816204809/http://gigaom.com/2012/08/13/speakers-finalized-for-pdx-portlands-tech-and-music-conference/) at the [beta test of an event that would be eventually be released as TechfestNW](https://siliconflorist.com/2012/08/14/experience-portland-thinking-musicfestnw-tech-conference-pdx/).) > I ❤️ Graze and Portland > > — [Mike McCue (@mmccue.bsky.social)](https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:6nkng5626orolzuyvuzocl4e?ref_src=embed) [2026-08-26T16:50:17.590Z](https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:6nkng5626orolzuyvuzocl4e/post/3mtys3tqse22k?ref_src=embed) Terms of the deal were not disclosed. For more information, see the [Graze announcement](https://graze.leaflet.pub/3mtypcuxxc22p). And read the coverage in [GeekWire](https://www.geekwire.com/2026/flipboard-acquires-portland-startup-graze-in-bid-to-re-orient-the-attention-economy/). (As this is a developing story, I may update it throughout the day with additional content.) *\[Full disclosure: Graze founder and CEO Devin Gaffney is a PIE alum. I was an investor in Graze.\]* .sf-patreon-card{border:1px solid #EEE;background:#fff;border-radius:8px;padding:20px 24px;margin:24px 0;text-align:center;font-family:inherit;} .sf-patreon-card .sf-patreon-kicker{font-size:.8rem;letter-spacing:.06em;text-transform:uppercase;color:#888;margin:0 0 4px;} .sf-patreon-card .sf-patreon-count{font-size:1.05rem;color:#222;margin:0 0 14px;line-height:1.4;} .sf-patreon-card .sf-patreon-btn{display:inline-block;background:#f96854;color:#fff;text-decoration:none;font-weight:600;padding:11px 22px;border-radius:6px;} .sf-patreon-card .sf-patreon-btn:hover{background:#e0503f;color:#fff;} Silicon Florist on Patreon Join **113** patrons supporting Portland startup coverage [Become a Patron](https://patreon.com/turoczy)