Pownce sells up, closes down

Just a few weeks ago blog developers SixApart laid off 16 workers, but now it's all smiles as they're out hiring again - or, more accurately, buying the team and technology behind messaging startup Pownce.

Developers Leah Culver (something of a starlet in a startup world notoriously devoid of female coders) and Mike Malone will be joining SixApart later this month - and closing down the service as a result:

We will be closing the service and Mike and I, along with the Pownce technology, have joined Six Apart, the company behind such great blogging software as Movable Type, TypePad and Vox. We're bittersweet about shutting down the service but we believe we'll come back with something much better in 2009.

Things have been tough for the Powncers as the service failed to gain traction despite having an unreasonably high profile thanks to co-founders Culver and Kevin Rose (of Digg fame). But at least this appears to be a dignified exit for the people behind the site - if not so pleasing for the handful of people who actually use it.

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