I guess, politics and business aren’t different in terms of one context. Threat to political position and business tends leaders in the respective fields to apply different offers on the opposite parties. The king of all social media platforms, Meta, Inc. is considered to be the master of some well-known companies around the corner of the world. Taking the acquisition process in a positive way, Meta is a real business deal cracker and has acquired many important organizations to reduce the competition (threat!). Companies owned by Meta turned out to be treasures for its growth and fame. Meta has expanded its business with its innovations and help from the acquired companies. In this blog, we have tried to sum up briefly about the major factors and interesting stories of companies owned by Meta.
1. Instagram
Inception Year: 2010
Service/Application Type: Photo and Video sharing social media app
Acquisition Date: 9 April 2012
Acquisition Cost: $1 Billion
Instagram is an iOS and android mobile app that is especially famous for sharing photos, videos, reels, and music. Users can also upload and edit their posts, add extra effects, and tag various influencers for better reach. This lustrous organization is a brainchild of Kevin Systrom and one of the prominent companies owned by Meta. Until 2012, the company was an independent organization and did not earn any revenue. However, the features and significant attractive frontend attracted Mark Zukerberg and he bought the company by investing billions of dollars.
According to some statistics, Instagram earns more than its parent company. After its acquisition, Meta started to develop the application and made various appealing changes that resulted in its dramatic growth. This also helped Facebook to maintain the first position in the popular social media network list.
2. WhatsApp
Inception Year: 2009
Services Offered: Mobile messaging app
Acquisition Date: 19 February 2014
Acquisition Cost: $22 Billion
WhatsApp is a tremendously popular and user-friendly messenger application that has 2.26 billion users till date. It is not only an instant texting application but also provides features such as audio and video calling, photos and videos sharing, and voice notes. Launched in 2009 by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, WhatsApp was a low-cost attentive among text messaging platforms. It became a competitor in the social media world when it crossed 400 million active users monthly and that’s when Facebook offered WhatsApp an acquisition request.
Though it is owned by Meta, its algorithm is different and its user interface works separately. Users don’t have to log in from Facebook accounts and only one messenger works at a time. A nearly-failed app became the most famous texting app and ranked top in the list of companies owned by Meta.
3. Oculus VR
Inception Year: 2012
Services Offered: Virtual Reality Technology and services
Acquisition Date: 25 March 2014
Acquisition Cost: $2 Billion
Oculus VR is a software and hardware company that sells virtual reality products. Just after the acquisition of WhatsApp, Meta decided to buy it and reached a definite argument to acquire the company at approximately $2 billion. Founded by Palmer Freeman Luckey, Oculus VR is especially known for producing VR headsets designed for video gaming—Oculus Rift. Since its acquisition, the company itself has acquired many companies. 2015 was a great year for the company as it purchased Surreal Vision, a company that specializes in real-time scene 3D construction.
Meta’s purchase of Oculus VR was one of the best decisions and it benefited the company by generating considerable revenue and fame. After this giant Meta acquisition, Facebook launched two important VR products called Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2. It has also opened a studio that focuses on funding, publishing, and advisory services for third-party studios producing games and VR products.
4. Onavo
Inception Year: 2010
Services Offered: Mobile web analytics
Acquisition Date: October 2013
Acquisition Cost: About $120 Billion
Founded by Roi Tiger and Guy Rosen, Onavo is a web analytics company that has consumer-facing apps. Dealt with praises and criticisms, it is one of the best companies owned by Meta. Originally incepted in Israel, this company performs various web analyses on mobile apps to decide customer usage. Moreover, it was also known for its data compression techniques. These services protect users online by collecting some amount of data.
The acquisition of Onavo was beneficial for Meta as it provided important data. Meta could take crucial acquisition decisions about other companies and apps. Also, it could expand its developing economies by connecting the world with the internet. The purchase of Onavo turned out to be a good decision, however, it also faced criticism. It has been classified as spyware and thus, Meta removed it from both the iOS and Android app stores.
5. Beluga
Inception Year: 2010
Services Offered: Messaging platform
Acquisition Year: 2 March 2011
Acquisition Cost: NA
Founded in 2010, Meta acquired Beluga just one year after its inception. A company offered a mobile app and a web service that provide instant messaging applications and content sharing. At first, the startup started a fundraising process for itself and taking advantage of this situation, Meta offered a great deal of acquiring the company at an undisclosed amount. It was a great deal for the biggest social media company as the acquisition helped it grow and become a highly successful messenger platform. Considered as one of the smartest companies owned by Meta, Beluga has an interesting backstory that connects with Google. The app gives the facility of mobile group chat and this was founded by three former employees of Google.
Other Companies Owned by Meta
| Company Name | Place | Date of Acquisition | Cost of Acquisition |
| AboutFace | Boston, USA | 23 August 2005 | $200k |
| ConnectU | Cambridge, MA, USA | 23 June 2008 | $31 Million |
| Friendster | CA, USA/Malaysia, | 13 May 2010 | $40 Million |
| Hot Potato | Brooklyn, USA | 20 August 2010 | $10 Million |
| Snaptu | Israel | 20 March 2011 | $70 Million |
| face. dom | Tel Aviv, Israel | 18 June 2012 | $100 Million |
| Hot Studio | New York, USA | 14 March 2013 | Undisclosed |
| Little Eye Labs | Bangalore, India | 8 January 2014 | $15 Million |
| Bloomsbury AI | London, UK | July 2018 | $30 Million |
| Pebbles Interfaces | Israel | 16 July 2015 | $60 Million |
| tbh | Oakland, CA, USA | 16 October 2017 | Undisclosed |
| Playgiga | Madrid, Spain | December 2019 | $70 Million |
| GIPHY | San Francisco, USA | May 2020 | $400 Million |
| Kustomer | New York, USA | November 2020 | $1 Billion |
Final Thoughts
Founded by several Harvard students, Meta’s various products also provide texting, photos, videos, voice notes, and many more. During the wave of growth, Mark Zukerberg acquired approximately 94 companies. These acquisitions not only helped the company grow in the digital world but also supported many startups and related organizations. These companies owned by Meta are now under influence of Facebook infrastructure and work cultures. We hope that this blog will eliminate some questions regarding Meta and companies owned by Meta.
Also Read: Are you making these 5 B2B Marketing Mistakes? Here’s how to fix them!
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