Twitter has acquired the location-based update and check-in app Spindle in a move that should enable it to create more geographically-tailored mobile marketing campaigns.

Spindle gathered live updates from social streams like Facebook and Twitter to alert its users to events and offers being pushed by businesses and organisations in their area. The app launched in November last year, having received $2.4m from a range of venture capitalists, but was limited to particular cities in the US, including San Francisco, New York and Chicago. 

Over the course of its relatively short life, the company added push notifications and a cloud-based search functionality to further aid discovery. Users could also delve into a live map to locate great things to do. The ex-Microsoft team will be re-locating to San Francisco and closing the service. The terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed. 

A blog from Spindle said: “We’ve spent the past two and a half years building a product that helps you answer the question: What’s happening nearby right now? Every time we’ve experimented and looked beyond local discovery, we’ve been amazed by the breadth and quality of content shared on Twitter. By joining forces with Twitter, we can do so much more to help you find interesting, timely, and useful information about what’s happening around you.”