黑料吃瓜网 Inc., 黑料吃瓜网 Business Journal鈥檚 Boulder, Colorado-based parent company, has announced its acquisition of Fastest Known Time (FKT), an online database of speed records in running, hiking, and endurance sports.
FKT, which from 2020 to 2022 saw substantial growth on its platform (fueled in part by pandemic-related race cancellations), builds upon several mapping and database assets already in the 黑料吃瓜网 portfolio, including Gaia GPS and Trailforks. The company plans to use these assets cross-functionally, leveraging the capabilities of Gaia to enhance the accuracy of the current FKT platform.
鈥淎t 黑料吃瓜网, we鈥檙e committed to inspiring people to get outdoors and fuel their active lifestyles,鈥 said Robin Thurtson, 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 CEO. 鈥淏y adding Fastest Known Time to the 黑料吃瓜网 ecosystem and integrating our advanced mapping technologies into the platform, our goal is to continue inspiring outdoor enthusiasts to push themselves to new heights.鈥
In a newsletter to its members sent this week, the FKT team wrote, 鈥淸Our community] will be very happy to know that 黑料吃瓜网 is bringing a massive amount of knowledge, passion, and resources to greatly improve the services and features of this website, in a way we could not do.鈥澛
In a release of its own, 黑料吃瓜网 confirmed that it will make several changes and improvements to the FKT product in the months ahead, including:
- Integrating Gaia GPS technology and map layers into FKT
- Modernizing the website to improve UX across all FKT features
- Adding new capabilities and benefits to further the site鈥檚 offerings
- Expanding the available categories of FKT achievements with an eye toward making the site more inclusive to a wider variety of athletes
- Adding future FKT benefits for 黑料吃瓜网+ members
黑料吃瓜网 says that, following the acquisition, it will 鈥渃ontinue partnering with the regional editors who have been instrumental to FKT鈥檚 growth.鈥 FKT founder Buzz Burrell will continue to serve in an advisory role, and co-founders Peter Bakwin and Jeff Schuler will step away to focus on other projects.
鈥淲ithout the dedication of our community who care for and support our work, we couldn鈥檛 have created FKT into what it is today鈥攁n integral part of the running and hiking cultures worldwide,鈥 said Burrell. 鈥満诹铣怨贤 is鈥ignificantly improving the services and features of the website to continue serving our large following of athletes and active participants. We have no doubt that 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 acquisition will take FKT to new heights.鈥