Quizzle is celebrating an acquisition this month and is getting ready to enjoy some extra elbow room later this spring.
Bankrate acquired the credit-monitoring company last week, making it the first Quicken Loans-built startup to exit through acquisition. It's common for acquired startups to be absorbed into their new parent companies. In this case that could mean downtown Detroit-based
Quizzle folding into Bankrate's New York operation.
But Quizzle isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's getting ready to move into a bigger office in the 5th floor of the office building at 1274 Library (the former
L.B. King and Company Building) next to the
Boll Family YMCA.
"They are literally demoing the space right now," says Todd Albery, CEO of Quizzle. "It has room for growth. We have 19 people now and we will be able to hold 30."
Quizzle launched in 2008 as a side project within Quicken Loans. Today it provides free credit scores and reports, as well as credit monitoring and identity protection services. It currently has a staff of 19 employees and the occasional intern. The 20th employee is set to start work later this month. Quizzle has hired eight of its interns into full-time positions. Albery expects that growth to continue in downtown Detroit for the foreseeable future.
"When (Bankrate) acquires companies, it typically leaves them where they are," Albery says.
Source: Todd Albery, CEO of Quizzle
Writer: Jon Zemke
Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.