Wal-Mart Buys Software Firms OneOps and TastyLabs

@WalmartLabs, the social media operation that’s part of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s e-commerce division, purchased two software firms this week, OneOps and TastyLabs.

Terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed.

OneOps, founded by a trio of former eBay engineers, has developed a “Platform-as-a-Service capability” the retailer says will help it “significantly accelerate our PaaS and Private Cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (Iaas) strategies.”

TastyLabs, founded by former Mozilla employee Nick Nguyen, del.icio.us creator Joshua Schachter and HousingMaps creator Paul Rademacher, is a software applications business that aims to connect people via social software.

Jeremy King, @WalmartLabs’ chief technology officer, said in a blog post that the acquisitions will help the company accelerate its ability to innovate and “bring new experiences to our customers around the world.” 

“These additions show our commitment to delivering best-in-class technology by attracting some of the best people in Silicon Valley … because we offer the unique opportunity to innovate at a massive, global scale and solve interesting challenges that improve the lives of millions of people at a time.

Since 2011, Wal-Mart has poured millions of dollars into its e-commerce division. The investments come as the world’s largest retailer sets its sights on online-only rival Amazon, which posted $61.1 billion in revenue in 2012, up 27 percent from the previous year.

Wal-Mart, born as a brick-and-mortar discount retailer decades before the birth of the web, expects to post $9 billion in online sales in the current fiscal year.