Facebook is buying Giphy in deal valued at $400 million

• In the future, everything will be eaten by Mark Zuckerberg

Facebook is acquiring Giphy in a deal valued at roughly $400 million. The GIF-sharing service was valued at ~$600 million in its latest funding round.

Giphy will keep its branding and will be integrated with Instagram.

Facebook made it official on the Facebook blog.

A lot of people in our community already know and love GIPHY. In fact, 50% of GIPHY’s traffic comes from the Facebook family of apps, half of that from Instagram alone. By bringing Instagram and GIPHY together, we can make it easier for people to find the perfect GIFs and stickers in Stories and Direct. Both our services are big supporters of the creator and artist community, and that will continue. Together, we can make it easier for anyone to create and share their work with the world.

We’ve used GIPHY’s API for years, not just in Instagram, but in the Facebook app, Messenger and WhatsApp. GIPHY will continue to operate its library (including its global content collection), and we’re looking forward to investing further in its technology and relationships with content and API partners. People will still be able to upload GIFs; developers and API partners will continue to have the same access to GIPHY’s APIs; and GIPHY’s creative community will still be able to create great content.

Axios was first to break the news:

• Giphy is expected to retain its own branding, with its primary integration to come via Facebook’s Instagram platform.
• New York-based Giphy had raised around $150 million in VC funding since its 2013 inception, from firms like Betaworks (which incubated the company), Lerer Hippeau, IVP, DFJ Growth, GGV Capital, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Its most recent private valuation was around $600 million.
• Yes, but: Facebook is facing enormous blowback over its previous acquisitions, which means that this deal, however small by comparison, is likely to face a lot of antitrust scrutiny by regulators. The tech giant is currently under investigation by federal and state lawmakers for antitrust.

Read more:
Scoop: Facebook to buy Giphy for $400 million
[via techmeme, reporting by Dan Primack, Kia Kokalitcheva, Sara Fischer]

And related reporting:
• Facebook’s purchase of Giphy gives FB insight into how and where gifs are shared outside of its own apps, including device IDs and keystrokes in Giphy tools

• John Borthwick, one of Giphy’s early investors and board members, describes how the Facebook deal came about and says talks began in late March
[Issie Lapowsky / Protocol]