[NEWS] MediaLab acquires messaging app Kik, expanding its app portfolio – Loganspace

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[NEWS] MediaLab acquires messaging app Kik, expanding its app portfolio – Loganspace


Current messaging appKikis, certainly, “right here to shield” following an acquisition by the Los Angeles-primarily based fully multimedia preserving company,MediaLab.

It echoesthe identical messagefrom Kik’s chief executive Tim Livingston remaining week when he rebuffed earlier reports thatthe corporate would shut downamid an ongoing fight with the U.S. Securities and Change Commission. Livingston hadtweetedthat Kik had signed a letter-of-intent with a “colossal company,” however that it changed into as soon as “no longer a done deal.”

Now we know the the corporate: MediaLab. Ina put up on Kik’s weblogon Friday the MediaLab acknowledged that it has “finalized an agreement” to composeKikMessenger.

Kikis a form of glorious areas that brings us again to those early aspirations,” the weblog put up be taught. “Whether it be a ardour for an vague manga or your well-liked football team, Kik has shown an improbable capability to provide a platform for mark original friendships to be forged thru your cell phone.”

MediaLab is a preserving company thatowns several diversified cell properties, collectively with nameless social networkConverseand mixtape appDatPiff. In shopping Kik, the preserving company is rising its cell app portfolio.

MediaLab acknowledged it has “some solutions” for establishing Kik going forwards, collectively with making the app sooner and lowering the volume of unwanted messages and unsolicited mail bots. The corporate acknowledged this can introduce adverts “over the arriving weeks” in reveal to “cloak our charges” of working the platform.

Purchasing the Kik messaging platform provides one other social media weapon to the arsenal for MediaLab and its chief executive,Michael Heyward.

Heyward changed into as soon as an early huge name of the budding Los Angeles startup neighborhood with the open of the nameless messaging provider,Conversealmost 8 years ago. At the time, the corporate changed into as soon as one in every of a take hold of of nameless apps — collectively withSecretand YikYak — that raised tens of thousands and thousands of greenbacks to give online iterations of the confessional journal, the burn e book, and the bathroom wall (respectively).

In 2017,TechCrunch reportedthat Converse underwent necessary layoffs to stave off give procedure and save the corporate on a path to profitability.

At the time Converse had roughly 20 million month-to-month active users across its app and web set up, which the corporate changed into as soon as having a glimpse to monetize thru programmatic advertising and marketing, in preference to mark-sponsored campaigns that had supplied one of the necessary necessary corporate’s revenue in the past. Through widgets, the corporate had a further 10 million viewers of its deliver material per-month the utilization of various widgets and a attain of around 250 million thruFband diversified social networks on which it revealed posts.

Folks accustomed to the corporate acknowledged on the time that it changed into as soon as seeing snide revenues of roughly $1 million and changed into as soon as going to hit $12.5 million in revenue for that calendar year. By 2018 that revenue changed into as soon as anticipated to high $30 million, primarily based fully on sources on the time.

The flagship Converse app let of us put up rapid bits of nameless text and photos that diversified of us may perchance perchance indulge in or comment about. Heyward intended it to be a technique for folks to portion more personal and intimate minute print —  to be a social network for confessions and make stronger in preference to harassment.

The root caught on with investors and Converse managed to elevate $61 million from investors collectively with Sequoia,Lightspeed Mission Partners,andShasta Ventures. Converse’s remaining round changed into as soon as a $36 million Collection C again in 2014.

Fleet forward to 2018 when Secrethad been shut down for 3 yearswhile YikYak additionally went bust — selling off its engineering team to Sq. for around $1 million. Converse, meanwhile, apparently situation up MediaLab as a preserving company for its app and extra resources that Heyward would glimpse to roll up. The corporatefiled registration paperwork in California in June 2018.

In step with the filings, Susan Stone, a accomplice with the funding companySierra Wasatch Capital, is listed as a director for the corporate.

Heyward did now not acknowledge to a quiz for comment.

Zack Whittaker contributed reporting for this text. 

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