Sprouter: Back from the (Near) Dead
After announcing its plans to shut down earlier this year, Canadian-based Sprouter has a surprising announcement: the company has been acquired by Postmedia Network Inc., the largest publisher by circulation of paid English-language daily newspapers in Canada.
Sprouter, a site dedicated to helping founders get assistance with their startups, announced this summer that it could no longer fund its site, which consisted of a panel of experts that provide advice on topics like law, marketing and funding [disclosure: Small Business Trends CEO Anita Campbell has served as an expert]. At the announcement, explained Sprouter Founder Sarah Prevette, the community rallied around the brand:
“We were blown away by the outpouring of support and the number of people who came forward to continue the service. We were particularly impressed with the team at Postmedia and their passion for supporting innovation.”
The acquisition will allow Sprouter to continue its regularly scheduled programs, including Sprouter Weekly, Sprout Up events, and its online Q&A, as well as add some new innovations:
“We are continuing to explore opportunities to collaborate with some of the teams inside our new family of brands and we’re excited to move forward with some of our previous ideas and plans. We see tremendous opportunity and are excited to get started!”
This just goes to show that it’s never over until it’s over. And even then, it might not be!
About the Author
Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Communications, an Internet marketing firm specializing in marketing copy, press releases, blog and article writing. She is also the blogger behind The Marketing Eggspert Blog. 
Executive Director of NASE
Smart acquisition by Postmedia because my guess is that it’s a fairly frugal operation to run and could garner a lot of PR and exposure.
I agree – a smart move by Postmedia. It’s further proof that of Canada’s three biggest daily newspapers, they are the only supporter of small business.
I am glad to hear that! I read the inspirational post over at Sprouter. Do you have a similar operation in the United States of America?
@Martin–
I guess the most similar would be Focus.com or Quora.com