According to sources, Square Inc. has apparently acquired the engineering team of Yik Yak. The payment processing firm lead by Jack Dorsey paid less than $3 million for up to ten engineers while leaving out Yik Yak’s Chief Executive Officer Tyler Droll of the transition.
If unfamiliar, Yik Yak is a social media app that allows those in a certain physical radius to hold anonymous discussions. The app was fairly popular a couple years ago and the firm was able to secure funding from investors, once holding a valuation of around $300 to $400 million. But, things began to slowly take a turn for the worse when the platform was caught up in several controversies that centered around harassment, bullying, and more.
Eventually, the firm would have to lay off nearly 60% of its staff and would try and make changes to reinvigorate its user base. But, it looks like those plans may never fully come to fruition if the information of Square acquiring the company"s engineering team are accurate. While this doesn"t necessarily mean the app will cease to exist, it may signal even tougher times ahead.
Source: Bloomberg