Reddit buys Dubsmash, a short video platform launched in 2014 and it is considered one of TikTok’s biggest rivals. It is the first major acquisition by the popular community in its 15-year history. It is not known how much the purchase was worth, but the latest valuation in 2016 placed the platform in the $50 million range. An amount that will easily have been exceeded in this operation.
- Hyundai buys Boston Dynamics from Softbank for $1.1B
- Intel buys Rivet Networks, creators of Killer communications chips
- Google Drive improves search in iOS and Android
Suchit Dash, Jonas Drüppel, and Tim Specht, the three co-founders of Dubsmash, will become part of the Reddit team. In total, their 12 employees will be part of Reddit, although according to the company’s announcement, Dubsmash will keep both its brand and its own platform. The applications for Android and iOS will continue to operate independently, but the tools for creating short videos will be integrated into the Reddit community.
Reddit already allows its users to upload and transmit videos, but with some very basic editing tools. With the purchase of Dubsmash, they want to “boost the creative capacity of the community.”
Dubsmash did not have a very successful start. In 2015 its use dropped significantly, but in 2017 it was renewed and it has managed to capture a considerable audience, with outstanding success among African-American teenagers in the U.S.
According to Reddit, 25% of African American teenagers use Dubsmash. In total, Dubsmash reports 1 billion video views per month.
In 2020, Reddit users have published millions of videos and the number of videos has doubled, according to the company. With the purchase of Dubsmash, perhaps the large Reddit community will be able to attract visitors with their own videos.
