Popular messaging app Kik is, certainly, “here to stay” following an acquisition by the Los Angeles-based multimedia holding firm, MediaLab.
It echoes the identical message from Kik’s chief govt Tim Livingston final week when he rebuffed earlier studies that the corporate would shut down amid an ongoing battle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Livingston had tweeted that Kik had signed a letter-of-intent with a “great company,” however that it was “not a done deal.”
Now we all know the the corporate: MediaLab. In a publish on Kik’s weblog on Friday the MediaLab stated that it has “finalized an agreement” to amass Kik Messenger.
“Kik is a type of superb locations that brings us again to these early aspirations,” the weblog publish learn. “Whether it be a passion for an obscure manga or your favorite football team, Kik has shown an incredible ability to provide a platform for new friendships to be forged through your mobile phone.”
MediaLab is a holding firm that owns a number of different cellular properties, together with nameless social community Whisper and mixtape app DatPiff. In buying Kik, the holding firm is increasing its cellular app portfolio.
MediaLab stated it has “some ideas” for growing Kik going forwards, together with making the app quicker and decreasing the quantity of undesirable messages and spam bots. The firm stated it should introduce adverts “over the coming weeks” with a view to “cover our expenses” of operating the platform.
Buying the Kik messaging platform provides one other social media weapon to the arsenal for MediaLab and its chief govt, Michael Heyward .
Heyward was an early star of the budding Los Angeles startup group with the launch of the nameless messaging service, Whisper almost eight years in the past. At the time, the corporate was one among a clutch of nameless apps — together with Secret and YikYak — that raised tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to supply on-line iterations of the confessional journal, the burn guide, and the lavatory wall (respectively).
In 2017, TechCrunch reported that Whisper underwent important layoffs to stave off collapse and put the corporate on a path to profitability.
At the time Whisper had roughly 20 million month-to-month energetic customers throughout its app and web site, which the corporate was seeking to monetize by means of programmatic promoting, reasonably than brand-sponsored campaigns that had offered among the firm’s income previously. Through widgets, the corporate had a further 10 million viewers of its content material per-month utilizing varied widgets and a attain of round 250 million by means of Facebook and different social networks on which it printed posts.
People aware of the corporate stated on the time that it was seeing gross revenues of roughly $1 million and was going to hit $12.5 million in income for that calendar 12 months. By 2018 that income was anticipated to high $30 million, in accordance with sources on the time.
The flagship Whisper app let individuals publish brief bits of nameless textual content and pictures that other people may like or remark about. Heyward supposed it to be a means for individuals to share extra private and intimate particulars — to be a social community for confessions and assist reasonably than harassment.
The concept caught on with traders and Whisper managed to lift $61 million from traders together with Sequoia, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Shasta Ventures . Whisper’s final spherical was a $36 million Series C again in 2014.
Fast ahead to 2018 when Secret had been shut down for 3 years whereas YikYak additionally went bust — promoting off its engineering workforce to Square for round $1 million. Whisper, in the meantime, seemingly arrange MediaLab as a holding firm for its app and extra belongings that Heyward would look to roll up. The firm filed registration paperwork in California in June 2018.
According to the filings, Susan Stone, a associate with the funding agency Sierra Wasatch Capital, is listed as a director for the corporate.
Heyward didn’t reply to a request for…
