Twitter acquires chat app Sphere
TECHDIGEST – Twitter announced recently that it has acquired a London-based startup chat app, Sphere.
It said the move is to build a community where every participant feels welcomed and can engage in conversation easily. It was not immediately clear how much the deal is worth.
The Sphere chat app is a group messaging service with a focus on the group aspects of chats.
The startup was founded by Nick D’Aloisio and Tomas Halgas. The former is a serial tech entrepreneur, having sold his news app Summly to Yahoo for $30 million at the age of 17.
The social media giant had in May rolled out audio feature Spaces, after reportedly making an effort to acquire audio platform Clubhouse. It has also proceeded to experiment with new functions to curb online harassment and promote online safety.
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The team at Sphere in a blog post said it had been “watching and admiring Twitter’s growing investment in community-building with the release of Communities, Spaces and features that promote safety”.
“When we met the team, we were even more impressed by how seriously they are pursuing interest-based community and how much they believe in its potential impact,” it said.
“Today’s announcement means we have the opportunity to take what we’ve learned at Sphere and bring our efforts to a whole new level. While we’ll be winding down our standalone product next month, we’re excited for our team of 20 to continue onwards within the communities, direct messages, and creator’s initiatives at Twitter. We can’t think of a better home for this work and are beyond excited to get started,’’ the post added.
The company’s decision to acquire Sphere comes as it ramps up measures to expand its product offerings to compete with other social media platforms.
