Internet’s favorite forum, Reddit, announced in a blog post on Sunday, that it has acquired the short-form video social platform Dubsmash. With the acquisition, Reddit has entered the market of short-form video sharing platforms, which is currently dominated by ByteDance’s TikTok.
The company did not disclose the value of the deal, but according to a report by Reuters, a Reddit spokesperson said that the deal was through a combination of cash and stock.
Reddit said that it will incorporate Dubsmash’s video creation tools into its own platform.
“We will integrate Dubsmash’s innovative video creation tools into Reddit, which will empower Reddit’s own creators to express themselves in original and authentic ways that are endemic to our communities,” wrote the company in its blog post.
The short-video sharing platform, however, will continue to function as a standalone entity regardless of its video creation tools being integrated into Reddit. Dubsmash’s entire team, including its head Suchit Dash, and co-founders Jonas Drüppel and Tim Specht will be joining Reddit.
Reddit, or as the website likes to call itself, the “front page of internet,” was founded in 2005 by Steve Huffman, Alexis Ohanian and Aaron Swartz. The platform is currently headed by Steve Huffman as CEO and is owned by Condé Nast’s parent company, Advance Publications.
According to the stats published in 2019, the website had 430 million monthly active users worldwide. The website is one of internet’s biggest resources of memes and popular content, with a sub-forum or “subreddit” covering almost every topic there is, ranging from politics, philosophy, arts, and even NSFW and adult content.
Dubsmash, the short-form video sharing platform, which is available as an app on both iOS and Android was founded in 2014 by Roland Grenke, Jonas Drüppel and Daniel Taschik. The video creation tools of Dubsmash are going to expand Reddit’s native video support, which was launched in 2017. Reddit said that the video aspect has been widely adapted by creators, musicians and communities, and the growth has doubled especially in 2020.
Dubsmash was very popular in India, as the country was among the platform’s the biggest markets in 2016. However, things changed when the Chinese app TikTok entered the market, which it completely dominated until it was banned in June over privacy and national security concerns.
More and more tech companies are now trying to tap into the highly lucrative market of shot-form video sharing which is still globally dominated by ByteDance’s TikTok. Snapchat’s ‘Spotlight‘, Instagram’s ‘Reels‘ and Reddit’s new acquisition are a few such examples.
“Both Reddit and Dubsmash share a deep rooted respect for how communities come together,” said Steve Huffman, CEO, Reddit. “Dubsmash elevates under-represented creators, while Reddit fosters a sense of community and belonging across thousands of different topics and passions. It’s clear that our missions closely align and that our community-focused platforms can coexist and grow as we learn from each other.”
