Internet call and chat service Skype announced on Sunday that it was acquiring GroupMe, a year-old group messaging service for cellphones. The acquisition is expected to enhance Skype’s ability to facilitate text and photo messaging.
In a press release, Luxembourg-based Skype said, “This will provide best-in-class text based communications and innovative features that enable users to connect, share locations and photos and make plans with their closest ties.”
Group messaging is a booming business and this is evidenced by the numerous deals that have taken place in this field recently. While search engine giant Google purchased group messaging company Slide, last August, social media giant Facebook rolled out its Group Chat after it acquired group messaging app Beluga in this March. In June, Apple announced that iMessage in iOS 5 is also capable of group messaging.
Commenting on the deal, Tony Bates, CEO, Skype said in his blog post that Skype and GroupMe had shared a vision of creating applications and experiences that are the daily communications choice for a billion people. “The GroupMe team has created an incredibly sticky group messaging experience that works across mobile devices and platforms, making this a perfect addition to the voice, video and text products in the Skype family,” he said.
Bates noted, “This latest acquisition, coupled with our acquisition of Qik earlier this year, augments our role as an innovator in driving unique mobile user experiences.”
Initially, GroupMe will continue to operate as an independent company in New York. “The major difference will be that we will now have access to Skype’s 175 million monthly connected users,” said GroupMe in its official blog post. Eventually, the companies would begin to think about tighter integration and collaboration.
GroupMe was born at a hackathon at TechCrunch Disrupt in New York 2010. It was founded by Jared Hecht and Steve Martocci.
GroupMe combines free group texting and conference-calling to create ongoing mobile-based group conversations. In February, the company proudly announced that it was sending a million text messages every day and in the following month it launched a revamped version of its iPhone and Android apps that feature an improved interface, photo sharing within groups and location sharing.
Though the financial details of the deal has not been revealed, according to All Things Digital, Skype is paying around $ 85 million for the company. In November, of last year during a $ 10 million round of fund-raising, GroupMe was valued at $ 85 million. The New-York based company which celebrated its one-year anniversary earlier this month has around 20 employees, a few million users and sends more than 100 million texts per month.
GroupMe has raised nearly $11 million in venture funding from partners such as Khosla Ventures, First Round Capital, Betaworks, SV Angel, Lerer Ventures, General Catalyst Partners, and Founder Collective.
In May, Microsoft announced that it would be acquiring Skype for $ 8.5 billion, however, that transaction has not yet been completed. As soon as it is completed, we will likely see Skype integrated into Xbox 360, Kinect, Windows Phone and Office 365.