Ribbit Bought? Maybe Yes, Maybe No

Nothing's official yet, but VoIP start-up Ribbit allegedly has been bought by BT for $55 million. Or not.

Ribbit and BT are denying the rumors about an acquisition, but Ribbit isn't commenting on merger discussions. VentureBeat's sources say an acquisition is a possibility, but also leave open the door that Ribbit might also be talking to other companies. Or there's been a tentative deal agreement, but BT and Ribbit are working on the fine print. Or news sites are trading back and forth the same rumors and spin just to hike interest in Ribbit.

Silicon Valley-based Ribbit launched in December with a Voice 2.0 developer's platform and functionality including web page phone calls, directing phone calls to a web page and transcribing voice to text. Ribbit has built voice services for Salesforce.com, including a service combining mobile voice automation and SaaS. There's also a consumer mobile phone play called Amphibian (which leads this reporter to believe that Kermit and Cane Toad are likely to show up on internal documents, if nothing else).

Is Ribbit the only VoIP/Voice 2.0/Telco 2.0 play out there on the block? No, there's a ton of theme, including some bargain basement deals on companies that have run out of cash. Would BT do something like this? Yes, BT has not been shy about acquiring companies with a good technology story; Salesforce.com might a key here. Does someone at Ribbit have loose lips? Seems like it ...

For more:
- VentureBeat breaks BT and Ribbit deal, updates with a "Don't know."
- GigaOm follows up on BT Ribbit deal

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