Facebook is still young, and still growing. But they were never in a mood to slow down as far as growth was concerned, even when they were in the midst of becoming a publicly traded company. They purchased Instagram for $1 billion anyway. It was their most expensive at that time and continued to be so, till they acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014. A deal that’s still considered a high point in startup circles. Since 2005 Facebook have bought more than 50 companies and most of these companies are based in the USA. Here is a list of top 10 companies acquired by Facebook.
Acquired on – February 19, 2014
Value – USD 19, 000, 000, 000
In a landmark acquisition deal on February 19, 2014 Facebook purchased the popular instant messaging service company WhatsApp for a whopping $19 billion. The acquisition was done to accelerate growth and user engagement for both companies.
While Facebook’s global popularity doesn’t need any explanation anymore, WhatsApp is more popular in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and Maxico for messaging needs. The deal made it possible for Facebook to access WhatsApp’s 450 million user base, while WhatsApp benefits from Facebook’s resources and infrastructure.
Oculus VR
Acquired on – March 25, 2014
Value – USD 2, 000, 000, 000
Facebook spent $2 billion to acquire the virtual reality company Oculus VR in 2014. Oculus VR is widely known in virtual reality space for creating the headset named Oculus Rift. “After games, we’re going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences,” said Zuckerberg in a statement. “Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face, just by putting on goggles in your home.”
Acquired on – April 9, 2012
Value – USD 1, 000, 000, 000
Instagram was the first exception to Facebook’s ‘talent acquisition’ policy when they bought the already internationally popular photo and video sharing social networking service for $1 billion in 2012. Since the acquisition, Instagram has hit more than $1 billion active monthly users and in 2013 Facebook officially launched an Instagram ad platform to explore more avenues for pushing ads.
Face.com
Acquired on – June 18, 2012
Value – USD 100, 000, 000
Face.com is one of the well-known companies acquired by Facebook for $100 million. It’s an Israeli face recognition tech startup that was incorporated into Facebook photo tagging for improved user experience.
Atlas Solutions
Acquired on – February 28, 2013
Value – Less than USD 100, 000, 000
Atlas is an online business and management services provider company that was bought by Facebook for an undisclosed amount. But if sources to believe, around $100 million was spent for the acquisition. Facebook plans to utilize Atlas’ services to help marketers and agencies get a better view of campaign performance.
Parse
Acquired on – April 25, 2013
Value – USD 85, 000, 000
Parse offers cloud-based software develop kits to create apps for mobile and desktop. When Facebook purchased the startup for $85 million in 2013 with high ambition. But sometimes things don’t pan out the way we imagine it to. So in January 2016 Facebook announced its plans to shut down Parse.
Karma
Acquired on – May 21, 2012
Value – USD 80, 000, 000
Facebook spent $80 million to purchase the mobile gift-giving app Karma in 2012. Unlike their usual acquisition trends, Facebook didn’t buy talented engineers of Karma. Among 16 employees in the startup, Facebook acquired only two talents.
Snaptu
Acquired on – March 20, 2011
Value – USD 70, 000, 000
Snaptu, a London based free mobile app platform for smartphones, was acquired by Facebook for $70 million. Facebook incorporated their technology to deliver a better and quicker mobile experience.
Pebbles
Acquired on – July 16, 2015
Value – USD 60, 000, 000
Facebook’s Oculus division acquired an Israeli computer vision specialist company named Pebbles Interfaces for $60 million. Pebbles team will be joining Oculus’s engineering and computer vision teams to improve virtual reality, tracking and human-computer interactions.
FriendFeed
Acquired on – August 10, 2009
Value – USD 47, 500, 000
This was an acquisition that majorly contributed in Facebook’s globally addictive popularity. FriendFeed is a real-time feed aggregator from a variety of social media sites. When Facebook purchased the startup for $47.5 million, it also included few of FriendFeed’s features and thus, the ‘Like’ button was born. The acquisition also helped Facebook to come up with real-time news feed updates.