Kik to double in size after accepting $50m investment from Tencent
Kik has announced it is to double in size after accepting a $50m investment from Chinese internet services provider Tencent which values the chat network at $1bn.
This funding will enable Kik to expand its chat-based services and grow its market share in the US amongst 13-24 year olds with around 40 per cent of US teens already using the service. The deal also takes Kik it further down the road of realising founder Ted Livingston’s vision of making Kik the ‘WeChat of the West’.
Tencent created WeChat (known as Weixin in China) and has enjoyed significant success in building an ecosystem around its messaging service, enabling services such as booking taxis, shopping, ordering food deliveries, paying utility bills, playing games and following celebrities, opinion leaders, and brands via ‘official accounts’.
Livingston commented: “Consumers and developers alike are suffering from app overload, and we are increasingly seeing the potential for services to be delivered in better, lighter-weight ways through chat, especially with bots.
“Companies like Slack, Telegram, and Facebook are also starting to realize this.”