A teenager has sold an app he designed to Yahoo in a deal believed to be worth tens of millions of pounds.
Nick D'Aloisio created the tool at his home in Wimbledon, south-west London, at the age of just 15, and now two years later it has been bought by the internet giant for an undisclosed sum.
The app, named Summly, reached number nine in the free iPhone app chart last November and offers users a quick and easy way of finding news stories on the internet.
The teenager, who is studying for his A-levels outside of school, is now due to join the capital's Yahoo team.
Nick, 17, said he was "delighted" about the deal.
In a message on the Summly website, he wrote: "I am delighted to announce Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo.
"After spending some time on campus, I discovered that Yahoo! has an inspirational goal to make people's daily routines entertaining and meaningful, and mobile will be a central part of that vision. For us, it's the perfect fit.
"When I founded Summly at 15, I would have never imagined being in this position so suddenly."
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His full note reads:
I am delighted to announce Summly has signed an agreement to be acquired by Yahoo!. Our vision is to simplify how we get information and we are thrilled to continue this mission with Yahoo!'s global scale and expertise. After spending some time on campus, I discovered that Yahoo! has an inspirational goal to make people's daily routines entertaining and meaningful, and mobile will be a central part of that vision. For us, it's the perfect fit.
When I founded Summly at 15, I would have never imagined being in this position so suddenly. I'd personally like to thank Li Ka-Shing and Horizons Ventures for having the foresight to back a teenager pursuing his dream. Also to our investors, advisors and of course the fantastic team for believing in the potential of Summly. Without you all, this never would have been possible. I'd also like to thank my family, friends and school for supporting me.
Most importantly, thank you to our wonderful users who have helped contribute to us receiving Apple's Best Apps of 2012 award for Intuitive Touch! We will be removing Summly from the App Store today but expect our summarization technology will soon return to multiple Yahoo! products - see this as a ‘power nap' so to speak.
With over 90 million summaries read in just a few short months, this is just the beginning for our technology. As we move towards a more refined, liberated and intelligent mobile web, summaries will continue to help navigate through our ever expanding information universe.