Reddit buys Dubsmash bringing TikTok-style video creation tools to the platform

Reddit, an online community for conversation and human connections will soon compete with Chinese-owned short-form video app TikTok as it acquires its rival Dubsmash. The financial details of the deal have not been disclosed but according to a company spokesperson, the deal was conducted on a combination of cash and stock.

Reddit talking about the deal in a blog post highlighted that it will give its users who already use Reddit to upload and stream videos, access to Dubsmash’s short-video creation and editing tools. To express themselves in a more ‘‘original and authentic’’ way. “Dubsmash’s mission is to elevate under-represented creators. They have built a beautiful and fun product that enables their users to create unique, dynamic, interactive content. While Dubsmash will maintain its own platform and brand, we also look forward to bringing our teams together to combine the unique creator experience of Dubsmash with the community growth engine of Reddit.” said the blog post.

The success of ByteDance’s TikTok platform inspired other tech giants to introduce short video features like Facebook’s bringing Instagram Reels and Snapchat’s getting Spotlight earlier this year.

Reddit further pointed out that Dubsmash communities are driven by females comprising 70 per cent users and 25 per cent of all Black teens in the United States. It further informed that the portal gets more than one billion views every month and 30 per cent of its users log in every day to upload videos, indicating a high level of engagement and retention.

Dubsmash was founded by Suchit Dash, Tim Specht and Jonas Druppel in November 2014 in Germany. Within a year of its launch, it reached the number one position in Germany. By June 2015 it was downloaded 50 million times in 192 countries. In 2016 it shifted to New York. Reddit added that after the acquisition, Dubsmash will continue to maintain its own platform and brand.