Facebook is buying the popular GIF search engine Giphy, with plans to further integrate the GIF library into Instagram and other Facebook apps. Giphy will be part of the Instagram team and the service will continue to operate its massive library, the company said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Axios, which first reported the deal, pegged the acquisition size at $400 million.
“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” Vishal Shah, VP-Product, Instagram said in a blog post.
Started in 2013 by Alex Chung and Jace Cooke, Giphy allows users to search, create, and share GIFs and animated stickers. Several Internet services including Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Reddit, Slack, and Tinder rely on Giphy's APIs to allow their users to post animated content on their respective platforms.
“50% of GIPHY's traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone. By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct” Shah said.
Facebook will also invest in strengthening Giphy's technology as well as relationships with content and API partners, Shah said.
New York-based Giphy has raised about $150 million across multiple funding rounds from investors like Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Lightspeed, Alphabet's GV, Betaworks, GGV Capital and Lerer Hippeau Ventures among others.
