Dubai-based Mara Social Media has acquired global mobile calling and messaging app Nimbuzz, with 200 million users across the Middle East and Inda.
A subsidiary of Mara Group, headed by successful entrepreneur Ashish J. Thakkar, Mara Social Media is a multi-channel platform of online and mobile tech innovations targeting the booming African market.
The acquisition of Nimbuzz will create a stronger foundation for future growth in emerging markets, Mara Social Media said in a statement. It did not disclose the purchase price.
Mara Social Media expects messaging apps to overtake social media apps globally within the next two years.
“Users are now demanding a messaging app experience that goes beyond entertainment or communications. We see this as a gap in the offering of the existing messenger players in most markets and it opens up a huge opportunity for Mara to tap in to,” Mara Social Media chairwoman Ahuti Chug said.
“We are extremely excited about this move and with the fact that it makes us a global player in this space.”
Mara said it would roll-out a new hybrid approach for the Nimbuzz messenger, which would be an amalgamation of content, Incubator platform, smart market place and consumer communities.
It will also integrate the Nimbuzz platform with its existing Mara platforms, including Mara Mentor, which provides free online mentoring, and Mara Jobs, an app that services both blue and white collar workers, into Nimbuzz Messenger and vice versa.
Nimbuzz, launched in May 2008, can be installed on computers, mobile phones, smartphones and tablets, across Android, iPhone, and Symbian, MIDP, Windows Phone, BlackBerry and PC and Mac computers.
The acquisition will give Mara access to Nimbuzz’s international assets, intellectual property and database.
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