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Path acquired by the makers of a popular messaging app
Owen Thomas, Business Insider
Dave Morin, Path
Path announced Thursday that it has been acquired by Daum Kakao, the makers of the popular Kakao Talk app.
Path will continue to operate, but focus on the Southeast Asian communities where it has built a community, according to the announcement.
No price has been disclosed.
Founded in 2010 by Dave Morin, a former Facebook and Apple employee, the social network app never took off in the US or Europe and instead became popular in Asia.
It subsequently launched Path Talk, a messaging app, and last month released Kong, a new app for sharing selfie gifs.
Rumors of Path’s acquisition by its South Korean competitor first surfaced in April, although previous rumors of an Apple acquisition in September 2014 had gone unfounded.
Here’s the full statement:
In 2010 a small team of us set out to build a company focused on quality products that bring you a source of happiness, meaning, and connection.
Five years later, Path continues to follow that simple mission primarily within communities in Southeast Asia. We have reached a tipping point on our journey and for Path to truly grow we need more resources and a larger local team that deeply understands Southeast Asian markets. That is why today we are announcing a definitive agreement under which Daum Kakao will acquire Path and Path Talk. Kong will continue to operate as part of Path.
Path and Daum Kakao share an important core value: we both strive to better connect you to the people, places and things that are the most important to you.
What does this mean for you? Nearly everything you have come to love about Path and Path Talk will remain as is. Daum Kakao’s extensive experience in mobile innovation along with a network of millions of users will ensure continued and reliable service. Future product updates will continue to improve connecting, sharing and communicating in the Path community.
Along our journey we have celebrated some wonderful successes and learned valuable lessons. All of which have shaped Path into the product it is today. Like many social networks and consumer apps, our intent was to create a meaningful product loved and used globally. We are very proud that Path found a home with over 10 million people a month around the world.
On a personal note, thank you for all your support and feedback throughout the years. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had this opportunity to serve you. I also couldn’t be more proud to be part of a team of people who created a network with happiness at its core — a personal network that brings out the best in all by fostering nearly 600M genuine friendships and 400M moments viewed per day.
I am excited to see what the future holds for Path and feel confident that Daum Kakao will take great care of the Path community.
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