Facebook Picks Up Apple Alum’s HTML5 Start-Up, Strobe

Facebook has bought Strobe, an HTML5-focused mobile app development start-up founded by Charles Jolley, who helped create Apple’s vision for HTML5, as well as the open-source framework SproutCore.

Facebook said the deal was a talent acquisition — meaning it didn’t commit to continuing Strobe’s products and didn’t buy its technology — and that it looked forward to Jolley and some others from Strobe joining its mobile engineering team.

Strobe had launched a developer preview only two months ago as a way to simultaneously build and launch Web and native apps for Android and iOS.

Jolley wrote in a blog post today, “Strobe was founded on the belief that HTML5 can transform the way average people use their mobile phones through apps that are available everywhere, anytime, on any device. Now we’re joining the talented people at Facebook to help develop innovative mobile experiences for their users around the world.”

The 18-month-old Strobe was backed with $2.5 million by Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures. It was competitive with Sencha, which by contrast has raised something like $30 million.