• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, July 14, 2014

LinkedIn on Monday announced acquiring start-up Newsle, which offers a service tracking mentions of important contacts across social media and the wider Web. The company uses machine learning and natural language processing to notify users when contacts or people they follow are mentioned in blogs and news articles.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

The acquisition is part of LinkedIn’s broader efforts in the last two years to build out a range of publishing tools and content offerings on the professional network. That includes its purchases of content-sharing platform SlideShare and news aggregator app Pulse, as well as launching the Influencer blogging program last year.

“LinkedIn and Newsle share a common goal: We both want to provide professional insights that make you better at what you do. For example, knowing more about the people in your network – like when they’re mentioned in the news – can surface relevant insights that help you hit your next meeting with them out of the park,” stated LinkedIn in a blog post today.

Under the deal, Newsle co-founders Jonah Varon and Axel Hansen will join LinkedIn along with its team of four engineers. The 3-year-old company, which says it has 2 million users, will continue to operate as a standalone service for now, while it works to integrate its technology with LinkedIn’s core offering.

Newsle has raised a total of $2.6 million from investors, including Transmedia Capital, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Lerer Ventures, per TechCruch.