With last Fall's $3.5 million funding round in the kitty, NileGuide used an undisclosed portion of the proceeds to acquire travel recommendation site 10Best.com from the Enveritas Group.
Josh Steinitz, NileGuide's CEO, says 10Best.com offers original content, with an emphasis on restaurant and attraction recommendations, and will blend well with NileGuide's focus on local recommendations and "help build an audience in the right place in the travel funnel."
That juncture is the research and planning phase before a hotel booking and after the hotel booking, as well, when travelers are looking for recommendations about attractions, Steinitz says.
The 10Best acquisition is NileGuide's second since May 2010, when NileGuide purchased Localyte.
10Best is "profitable and successful" with some 2 million monthly unique visitors; NileGuide attracts 1 million monthly uniques, Steinitz says.
The four employees of 10Best, which is based in Greenville, S.C., will become NileGuide employees, boosting the ranks to around 25.
Steinitz says NileGuide will retain the 10Best brand for now.
"We don't want to mess with that in the short term," Steinitz says.
Over time, 10Best will feature some NileGuide content, branding and Ask a Local recommendations.
"We'll cross-pollinate content, links and brands," Steinitz adds.
Steinitz says 10Best has been under-invested in as the Enveritas Group puts more emphasis on the business-to-business sector.
The acquisition, Steinitz says, was an opportunity for NileGuide to build a "bigger and better audience."