Twitter Acquires Chat App Sphere In A Bid To Boost DMs And Community Features

Twitter has been making a lot of changes to stay relevant for users. In a bid to bolster direct messaging and community features, the company has now acquired chat London-based startup chat app Sphere. Both the companies have not disclosed how much the deal is worth. The microblogging site said that it has acquired the company so that participants can engage in conversation easily. Commenting on the deal, Engineering VP Nick Caldwell said the acquisition would speed up the development for Creators, Communities, and DMs. It is worth mentioning that Sphere had earlier said that it was ‘winding down’ its app. However, it was not clear at that time that the startup will be purchased by Twitter.

The sphere is popular not just because of its features but also because of the tech industry star power surrounding the app. The startup has been founded by Nick D’Aloisio and Tomas Halgas. Nick is a serial entrepreneur who grabbed eyeballs at the age of 17 by selling his news app Summly to Yahoo. He had sold the app for USD 30 million. His latest venture has some very high-profile investors. This includes co-founders from Tinder and Airbnb. The app is not particularly large at the moment but definitely had high hopes before the acquisition. At the moment, there are only 20 staffers working for Sphere. All of them are now headed to Twitter. In a blog post, Sphere said that it had been closely watching and admiring Twitter’s focus on investment in community-building. “With the release of Communities and Spaces, the microblogging site has been increasingly investing in features that promote safety,” it said.

“We were even more impressed after meeting the team. We are amazed by the seriousness with which they are pursuing an interest-based community. Also, they strongly believe in the potential impact of it,” it said. The purchase looks well thought of decision by Twitter as it has been focusing on DMs and helping creators form communities. Twitter can use the community features of the Sphere throughout its social network. This will put the microblogging site in a better position to compete against Instagram and other rivals that are recording significant growth on private messaging and influential figures. Twitter had rolled out Spaces in May. Before doing that, it had tried to acquire the popular audio platform Clubhouse. The company also experimented with new features in order to promote the online safety of users and curb online harassment.