Snapchat, the photo sharing app that boasts 100 million monthly active users, is poised to become the next tech startup to join the bigger names in the industry such as Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook.
However, this is not something that the aforementioned companies have done in a short period of time. As a result, Snapchat still has some long way to go before it catches up with these tech giants. But on its way up the ladder, these tech giants have been acquiring smaller companies and use them to better position their services in the highly competitive tech industry.
Snapchat seems to be taking this direction thanks to the recent acquisition of Bitstrips for a massive $100 million. If you are not familiar with Bitstrips, well, this is the company that enabled Facebook users to create cartoons that featured their friends. The cartoons, generally known as bitmojis, could feature a part of life of you and friends.
Not everyone was a fan of the bitmojis, but for sure, Snapchat has something it sees in them, especially now that is has seen advertising as a major way of monetizing its services. It is for this reason the company has shelled out a tune of $100 million to acquire the bitmoji-maker.
More gains for Snapchat
Of course, the main reason for acquiring this company is because Snapchat wants it to push its monetizing efforts ahead. It is easy for them to monetize the bitmojis, which have been a hit for the past two years. At the moment, there are no clear stats of how many people use bitmojis, but for sure, being valued at $100 million means something.
Snapchat has a user base that is made of young people. With the growing love for emojis among the youth, there is no doubt that Snapchat might find it easy to get the bitmojis up and running via its app. With advertising a core aspect of Snapchat’s monetization plans, there is definitely more revenue that will be coming from Bitstrips.
In fact, Bitstrips CEO Jacob Blackstock believes that with this acquisition, all movies, fashion houses, TV shows and pop stars will want to be bitmojis in a bid to reach the massive audience available on Snapchat.
Snapchat is slowly rising into a force to reckon in the tech industry and soon, it might be able to compete on the same level with the likes of Facebook, Microsoft, Google as well as Apple. But as noted earlier, this will for sure take some time.