Facebook acquires Giphy for $400 million; to be part of Instagram team

Social media giant, Facebook, has acquired Giphy, the popular platform of sharable animated images. According to an Axios report, the deal is worth around $400 million.

Minutes after the Axios report, Facebook shared a blog post stating that GIPHY is joining the Facebook company today as part of the Instagram team. Facebook first attempted to acquire Giphy in 2015 but reportedly declined the offer in order to pursue partnering with various social media companies and soon after raised $17 million in Series B funding. Giphy had raised around $150 million in VC funding since its 2013 inception.

GIPHY was founded by Alex Chung and Jace Cooke in February 2013. Giphy partners with brands to host GIFs that can be shared as marketing promotions via social media channels. It has partnered with over 200 companies and brands to host all their existing content on their own branded channel.

According to Vishal Shah, Facebook VP of Product, “GIPHY makes everyday conversations more entertaining, and so we plan to further integrate their GIF library into Instagram and our other apps so that people can find just the right way to express themselves.”

“By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct. Both our services are big supporters of the creator and artist community, and that will continue. Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world.”

“We’ve used GIPHY’s API for years, not just in Instagram, but in the Facebook app, Messenger and WhatsApp. GIPHY will continue to operate its library (including its global content collection), and we’re looking forward to investing further in its technology and relationships with content and API partners. People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to GIPHY’s APIs; and GIPHY’s creative community will still be able to create great content.”