Bitly takes over Bielefeld start-up

With the purchase of Egoditor, the URL shortening service wants to expand its offering to include QR codes. The new German subsidiary is a pioneer in this field.

The Bielefeld-based software-as-a-service company Egoditor is now part of the US software provider Bitly. The companies made the announcement in a joint press release.

Egoditor, founded in 2009 by Nils Engelking and Nils Drescher, is best known for its platform QR-Code-Generator.com. The start-up from Westphalia was one of the first providers on the market. Today, Egoditor claims to have more than ten million customers, including companies such as Starbucks, Zalando and Accor. "We are very proud of the sustainable growth we have achieved with Egoditor over the last few years," said Egoditor co-founder Drescher in light of the takeover. Now they are excited about the opportunity to merge the QR code platform with Bitly's link management and link-in-bio offering.

Bitly is best known for its URL shortening service. In recent years, the New York-based company began to expand its business model, including adding its own QR code generator. "The acquisition of Egoditor, the leading provider in this field, is a logical next step in the further development of Bitly and the beginning of another growth phase for the company," explained Bitly CEO Toby Gabriner.