The Google-owned video platform giant YouTube has acquired Simsim, as the company confirms on Tuesday. As the details about the deal have not yet been revealed, we do not know how much the startup was valued at. TechCrunch claims that an official confirmed to them that it was at $70 million but as the authorities did not put down their comments, we are yet to believe it.
Simsim was based in Gurgaon and helped small businesses in India grow with their video platform. It helped the businesses to start with e-commerce finding them customers with the support of their videos and content. Simsim was able to raise about $17 million before the news of the acquisition came out was valued at almost $50.1million.
Simsim allowed businesses to connect with their customers. This comes in the wake of a need to have more deeply integrated transactional platforms other than the consumer social platforms. The cofounders of Simsim, Amit Bagaria, Kunal Suri, and Saurabh Vashishtha had commented that the partnership with platforms like YouTube and Google will help Simsim achieve its goal more easily. YouTube can also help Simsim by helping small businesses gain more customers through “more powerful ways”, told Gautam Anand, VP of YouTube APAC.
With over 450 million monthly active users, YouTube is planning to showcase Simsim offers to its users and is not planning on any immediate altering to the startup. Google has earlier invested in other video platforms in India like DailyHunt and Glance.
