Kik acquired Rounds to improve video messaging
Kik is a famous messaging app whose user base is usually young adults and children. The company has made its second major acquisition. It acquired the Israel based mobile video app maker rounds in an undisclosed deal. Does this mean that kik is paving way for more innovation in video messaging? Kik has more than 300 million users and some claims have been made relating its engagement alongside that of Snapchat.
It acquired GIF Relay in 2014 and given how Rounds made $20 million from investors it is speculated that kik paid more to acquire the mobile video messaging startup. While there is no official figure given for the acquisition deal, some Israeli media reports that the acquisition took place between $60-$80 million.
Video messaging is the new trend
Kik has made over $120 million to date and most recently it got $50 million from China’s Tencent at a $1 billion valuation. It kept the cost low by moving to Canada. This acquisition has heightened up the tech team at Kik. The Canadian company is turning its Tel Aviv office into a kik product and engineering center. It has also acquired 35 staff from Rounds. The company is actively hiring for more staff and plans to open a base in Toronto.
The two companies had joined forces way before the legal paperwork took place. Kik’s new video chat feature had Round’s technology behind it. The feature made way to the users in December. By the look of it all, seems like that Kik is coming up with more in the video calling department.
Read: Kik now has video calling feature
Rounds was found in 2009 and offered 12 people to engage in a chat. They can play games, read and do much more. Since, Houseparty is the new big thing among teenagers it seems that young people would not question more innovations in video calling. The culture of connecting people through video is coming too fast and seems like one of the major trends of 2017.
Image via Daily dot
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