Good news, Kik is not shutting down! While you may have seen the reports or heard something about Kik Shutting Down. Those reports/rumors are incorrect. While Kik was on the verge of shutting down, that is no longer the case with the sale of the app to MediaLab.
So hopefully, for the foreseeable future, this app will remain active and provide us with high quality messaging and entertainment just like before.
About Kik
Kik was started in 2009 by a group of students from the Canadian University of Waterloo. They created a new app that could be used on the emerging smartphones.
In 2010, they formed Kik Interactive and in the process raised $4.7 million from angel investors. The following year they raised $8 million in a Series A Investment round. At its peak, the company had a billion dollar valuation attached to the company.
The Downfall of Kik
While launching a crypto currency may not seemed like it would cause the downfall of the company, it unfortunately did cause issues that lead to the sale of the company. In September 2017, the company jumped onto the ICO train and raised $100 million through the Kin Coin ICO.
In 2018, the SEC accused Kik of violating securities laws with the sale of the Kin Coin. What followed next was rounds of subpoenas and lawsuits. Instead of settling, Kik’s CEO Ted Livingston has decided to fight the SEC, which he noted in a blog post that the process has been long and expensive that is draining their resourced.
That lead to an announcement that the company was shutting down the messenger app, which would allow the company to focus on fighting the SEC. That blog post was followed up a month later with the announcement that the app is being sold to MediaLabs.
With the sale of the app to Kik, the previous owners of Kik can focus their efforts on the Kin Coin and resolving their SEC issue.
The app was sold to MediaLab
Kik Announced on its blog that it was shutting down on September 24, 2019, the app was later removed from the Google Play store. Then on October 7, 2019 Kk announced that they found a new home for the app with MediaLab agreeing to acquire the messaging app.
What is MediaLab?
MediaLab is an online holding company that owns a number of popular media apps such as Whisper and Datpiff. Their acquisition of Kik makes it one of the largest app/properties in their portfolio to date.
The company was found in 2018 and employees between 11-50 people based on their linkedin profile. The mobile apps that they own work on both android and iphone platforms.
The Future of Kik
What’s in store for the future for of Kik is still unknown. They have a parent company that is supportive. They have also started placing ads on the app in order to generate revenue which will be helpful in covering operating cost.
They are also working on making the app better by making it faster and fixing the bugs within the app.
However, the news of the closing announcement has led many people to abandon the Kik app for other apps. Will they eventually return? Who knows, there are many Kik Alternatives for them to discover and use.
But until then, you can safely create your Kik accounts or use the existing ones. If you have multiple available, make sure to check out our handy guide on how to use two Kik accounts at the same time.
Our Take
While we are glad that Kik was able to find an owner that is willing to keep the app running, there are many unknow and concerning questions. Hopefully, overtime will be resolved. Until then, use and enjoy the app, stay in touch