Monotype Acquires Branded Sticker Startup Swyft Media For Up To $27M

Monotype Imaging Holdings, a publicly traded company focused on fonts and other creative tools, just announced that it has acquired New York City-based ad startup Swyft Media.

The startup helps messaging apps like Tango make money by selling branded stickers and other ad products — as described in a recent story in Fortune, Swyft “is turning emoji into cash.” It says it has worked with nearly 300 brands so far, including Sony, MGM, SEGA, Dreamworks, and Hearst.

Under the announced deal terms, Monotype will pay $12 million for Swyft up front, with $15 million in potential earn outs, for total price that could reach $27 million. Founded in 2012 as TextPride, the startup announced a $1 million seed round last fall.

In a blog post, Swyft says it will operate as a Monotype subsidiary:

Over the past few months, we’ve realized that although fonts and stickers may be different types of media, Swyft and Monotype’s businesses are actually very similar. So we’re thrilled that the extremely smart and impressive team at Monotype has acquired us, so we can continue on our mission with the support and resources of a well-established public company.

Featured Image: Swyft Media



from TechCrunch http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/_QjrvPz-pxs/

via IFTTT