Voodoo, a French video game and app company acquired BeReal, a photo-sharing app that emphasises authenticity, to expand its app store with consumer titles.
The deal disclosed by Alexandre Yazdi, Voodoo co-founder and CEO, in a press release was quoted around €500 million (about $537.23 million).
The French-founded app took pride in allowing users to share their real-life experiences, allowing them to publish just once a day and offering no route to influencer status. But as it happens, new users don’t find authenticity to be all that appealing.
BeReal, which was created in 2019 by French coders Alexis Barreyat and Kévin Perreau, began to grow in popularity in 2022 as more users began to take advantage of the sporadic, once-daily chance to exchange pictures with pals. However, BeReal’s initial buzz rapidly subsided.
The majority of current users log in to the app six days a week, according to the CEO of Voodoo. Voodoo intends to enhance BeReal with new features and insert smoothly flowing advertisements into the system.
“Voodoo has a proven track record of driving significant growth in mobile apps,” Barreyat said in the press release. “Their resources and expertise will help bring BeReal on a sustainable growth path while continuing to deliver on its mission to create an authentic world that keeps you connected with the people you really care about.”
Newsng understands that Aymeric Roffé, the CEO of Wizz, a social app owned by Voodoo, will succeed Barreyat, the founder and chief executive officer of BeReal, who is also stepping down.
As per the statement, BeReal is one of the most widely used social networks in its three main markets—the United States, Japan, and France—with over 40 million active users today.
Half of these users use the app at least six days a week, demonstrating their high level of engagement.
We earlier reported that Amazon has disclosed that it acquired a part of the Indian video streaming service, MX Player.
