October 21, 2019

MediaLab Acquires Kik, a Messaging App

One of the most popular messaging apps Kik is, undoubtedly, “here to stay” as it is recently acquired by MediaLab, which is a multimedia holding organization in Los Angeles.

It echoes a similar message from Tim Livingston, the chief executive of Kik, last week when he rebuked former reports that the corporation would close down amid a running fight with Exchange Commission and the U.S. Securities. He had tweeted that Kik app had signed a letter-of-intent with a “great company,” but that it was “not a done deal.”

In a post on the blog of Kik, the MediaLab said that it has “finalized an agreement” to acquire Kik Messenger.

The blog post read, “Kik is one of those amazing places that bring us back to those early aspirations.” “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.”

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MediaLab is a holding organization that owns a lot of other mobile properties, which includes mixtape app DatPiff and anonymous social network Whisper. In getting hold of the Kik messaging app, the holding organization is expanding its app portfolio.

MediaLab said it has “some ideas” for developing Kik going forwards, including making the app faster and reducing the number of unwanted messages and spambots. The company said it would introduce ads “over the coming weeks” in order to “cover our expenses” of running the platform. Purchasing the Kik messaging podium adds the other social media stick to the armory for MediaLab & its chief executive, Michael Heyward.

Michael Heyward was the prime contributor in growing the Los Angeles startup community by using its release of the unidentified chatting service, Whisper, almost 8 years ago. At the point, the organization was one of a grasp of unnamed apps — including YikYak and Secret— that raised USD 10M to proffer online modifications of the confessional magazine, the burn book, & the bathroom wall (correspondingly).

In 2017, TechCrunch accounted that Whisper underwent imperative layoffs to stave off fall down and put the corporation on a conduit to profitability.

At the time, Whisper had approximately 20 million active users on a monthly basis all around its application and site, which the organization was searching for monetizing with programmatic advertising instead of brand-sponsored campaigns, which had offered a few of the company’s proceeds in an earlier period. Through widgets, the organization had an extra 10 million spectators of its content/month with the help of a variety of widgets & a reach of about 250 million via Facebook and added social networks on which it distributed posts.

People well-known with the corporation said at the time that it was viewing gross revenues of approximately $1 million & was going to hit $12.5M in profits for that year. By the end of 2018 that returns were predicted to top $30 million, as per the sources at the time.

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Akansha Pandey, Director of Sales at Fluper, is a leader in technology sales with a decade of experience. Known for her strategic approach, she excels in driving business growth and forging strong client relationships. Akansha's expertise lies in consultative selling, team leadership, and exceeding revenue targets. Passionate about mentoring, she enjoys sharing insights with aspiring sales professionals.