Canadian chat platform Kik Interactive has acquired the Israel-based group video chat platform Rounds. Rounds's 35 employees in Israel will become part of Kik's development center in Tel Aviv.
Rounds was founded in 2008 by CEO Dany Fishel and COO Ilan Leibovich. The company has raised $24 million to date from Sequoia, Samsung Ventures, Rhodium, Verizon, DFJ's Tim Draper and other invesrtors. No financial details about the acquisition were disclosed but sources in the sector believe Kik will be paying about $20 million.
Fishel said, "Video is the natural evolution of chat and an integral part of expression and hanging out in real life. We saw Kik as the perfect partner to expand our reach to such a vast audience. It's rare when two companies share a similar culture and vision of connecting people through fun, meaningful experiences, and we're eager to build the next great platform together."
Kik founder and CEO Ted Livingston said, "The team at Rounds knows how to build products that make chat fun and entertaining for our teen audience. The company has very strong product and engineering experience, and we're excited to join forces to achieve our goal of making chat the central hub for everyday life."
Rounds merges communication and entertainment together into a fun interactive video chat experience by enabling up to 12 friends to simultaneously video chat while experiencing activities together such as watching videos, playing games, sharing photos, and more. Rounds has more than 40 million users.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 26, 2017
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