Computer engineering grad's storytelling company to be sold for $754 million

Canadian online story-sharing company Wattpad Corp is to be acquired by Korean internet company Naver Corp. in an estimated $754-million CAD cash and stock deal later this year.  

It was frustration with not being able to read on the go standing in a grocery store lineup or elsewhere that inspired Ivan Yuen (BASc ’00, computer) to create an innovative app that lets him do just that – and millions of others as well.

Yuen teamed up with his friend and former co-worker Allen Lau, a University of Toronto electrical engineering graduate, to build and launch Wattpad in 2006. For the first year, they struggled to gain traction, mainly because their technology was ahead of its time.

By the end of 2007, the iPhone and Kindle had launched, significantly increasing user accessibility on Wattpad.

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