Vimeo, the IAC-owned platform for hosting, sharing and monetizing streamed video, has made an acquisition to expand into providing more creation and editing tools. The company has acquired Magisto, a startup founded in Israel that currently has more than 100 million users, which focuses on providing tools to create and edit short-form videos, providing not just editing but sourcing of music, stock photos and other elements as part of the mix.
Vimeo — which itself has 90 million members in more than 150 countries — says that the two will work together “to develop entirely new short-form video creation capabilities for the Vimeo platform, with the goal of helping any individual or business tell their stories with professionalism and ease.”
Terms of the deal were not disclosed — but we are trying to find out. Israeli publication Globes is reporting that it’s a $200 million deal. One source we talked to didn’t dispute that figure, but from what we understand the final price won’t be settled on until the deal has closed. Vimeo said that will happen by the end of Q2.
Magisto had raised around $23 million since 2010 from a mix of financial and strategic investors. The list includes Magma Venture Partners, Horizons Ventures, Kreos Capital, Qualcomm, SanDisk and the Mail.Ru Group. Notably, it hadn’t raised any funding since 2014, according to PitchBook data.
Magisto has around 75 employees in California and Israel, all of which are coming over with the deal.
The deal underscores Vimeo’s strategy to position itself as a one-stop shop for companies or individuals that publish videos online — either as part of publicity campaigns or as the basis of a bigger project. The idea is that this will help Vimeo get bigger margins per customer by providing more services. Today, Vimeo’s pricing starts at free for its basic membership, with five paid tiers starting at $7 per month and extending up to $75 per month (if billed annually; the price is higher if you pay monthly) that vary in terms of how much video you can store, how many users you can have on your account, as well as enhanced video playing, privacy, collaboration and distribution features.
Magisto, meanwhile, has three tiers of service, priced at $4.99, $9.99 or $34.99 per month, depending on whether you want longer video, more editing tools (including stock music and photos) or higher-quality video downloads, among other bells and whistles.
It’s about time that Vimeo worked to capitalise on what it already offers. In an age when some of the most popular services online are streaming-media sites like YouTube, broadband connectivity is ubiquitous and people are always on the go, video has become one of the primary ways that people express themselves and get the word out.
“Social media has sparked an insatiable demand for video – audiences today expect high-quality video content from every business, regardless of size or budget. But we’ve found that most small businesses don’t have the tools, resources or expertise to meet this increased demand,” said Anjali Sud, CEO of Vimeo, in a statement. “Magisto’s proprietary technology enables cutting edge mobile apps and AI-powered editing tools which, combined with Vimeo’s scale and unmatched creator community, will empower more people to tell compelling stories through video.”
In addition to developing new tools, Vimeo said that Magisto will be getting Vimeo integration in order to publish and monetize videos that they create on Magisto currently.
The two already have a lot of synergy as they both tap the same customer base: smaller customers that are turning to video and online tools to create it to get the word out about themselves, without the big budgets and other pricey resources that larger businesses might have.
“Magisto guides entrepreneurs and small business owners through the video storytelling process, helping them use video effectively to grow their business and engage with audiences,” said Oren Boiman, founder and CEO of Magisto. “We level the playing field so that any business can move fast and compete in today’s video-first world. We’re thrilled to join Vimeo’s industry-leading platform, and to power their vision to make professional quality video creation accessible to all.”
This is Vimeo’s fifth acquisition, according to Crunchbase, and it’s the first in nearly two years, after Vimeo acquired Livestream in September 2017.
Vimeo engaged lawyers David Chertok, Keren Sadeh, Omri Arouch and Daniel Colthof from Meitar Liquornik Geva Leshem Tal for the deal. Magisto worked with Barak S. Platt and Daniel Damboritz from Yigal Arnon & Co.
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