Facebook has agreed to buy Giphy, the popular platform of sharable animated images, for $400 million, Axios reported on Friday.
The publication quoted a source close to the situation as saying that the two companies first began talking prior to the pandemic and the focus was more about partnership than acquisition.
“Giphy is expected to retain its own branding, with its primary integration to come via Facebook’s Instagram platform. New York-based Giphy had raised around $150 million in VC funding since its 2013 inception, from firms like Betaworks, Lerer Hippeau, IVP, DFJ Growth, GGV Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Its most recent private valuation was around $600 million,” Axios said.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.