Google picks up mobile device manager Divide

Google has now made 13 acquisitions so far this year

Is Google turning into this year's Yahoo? Last year Yahoo went on a pretty crazy spree, buying 27 companies. Now Google is on a pace to nearly match it in 2014.

Google has now purchased its 13th company so far in this still short year, picking up mobile device manager Divide, it was revealed in a blog post on Divide's homepage on Monday.

No financial terms of the deal have been disclosed, but the Divide team will be coming to work on the Android team.

"The company was founded with a simple mission: Give people the best mobile experience at work," the company wrote. "As part of the Android team, we're excited to continue developing solutions that our users love."

Interestingly, despite the fact that they are coming over to Google, the Divide service "will work as it always has."

Founded in 2010 as Enterproid, the company says that it helps both organizations and individuals "get the most out of mobile technology and corporate BYOD policies" through a platform that combines cloud-based management with device-level technology.

In essence, the company divides a user's phone into two section: one for work, and one for personal use. That allows companies to implement BYOD (bring your own device) without having their employees becoming fearful of being monitored, while the companies can feel more secure in allowing sensitive data on devices that are not under their complete control.

"With Divide, IT gets the security and control it needs, including government-grade encryption to protect all business apps and data," the company explains on its website. "Employees enjoy privacy on their personal device as well as a suite of professional-grade business apps to get work done on the go."

BYOD has been on the rise over the last few years, and with the purchase of Divide Google has to be hoping to get more companies to become more willing to allow Android devices in the workplace, a sector where Apple and iOS have been dominant so far.

Divide raised around $23 million in funding, including $12 million in Series B funding led by Google Ventures, with Comcast Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners and Harmony Partners also participating, in October of last year.

Here is the complete list of Google's 13 startup purchases so far this year:

It has purchased Bitspin, the Zurich-based maker of the Timely clock app; cyber security Impermium; artificial intelligence company Deepmind; sound authentication firm SlickLogin; ad fraud detector Spider.io; Android game developer Green Throttle Games; drone manufacturer Titan Aerospace; Rangespan, a back-end solution for online retailers; ad attribution company Adometry; restaurant website builder Appetas; cloud monitoring service Stackdriver; and Quest Visual, the company behind translation service Word Lens.

And, of course, the company bought smart thermostat company Nest Labs for $3.2 billion, the most the company has ever spent on a startup acquisition.

Google has no further comment on the acquisition at this time.

(Image source: divide.com)