Twitter acquires social media talent start-up Niche in US$30m deal

12 Feb 2015

Twitter has acquired Niche, a start-up that connects advertisers with rising social media stars on Vine, in a deal that begins at US$30m but could go as high as US$60m when earn outs are considered.

New York-based Niche has a focus on what Twitter calls the “creator economy” where brands effectively fuel an income for the creative community.

Niche matches advertiser with creative on platforms like Vine and helps them to make money through the use of analytics.

“As we continue to invest in the growing media ecosystem, it’s important to provide a wide variety of tools for content creators to distribute and ultimately manage all of their content,” explained Baljeet Singh, director of product management at Twitter.

“To that end, we are excited to share that we’ve signed an agreement to acquire Niche, a provider of software, community and monetization services for the growing creative community.”

Fueling the creator economy

Singh explained that as more users and creators use different products as a way to share what’s happening in their world, brands are also looking to partner with those individuals in hopes of generating moments that resonate with the people they are trying to reach.

“The talent and creativity across the entire media landscape is incredible, and we hope this acquisition continues to inspire people to create great content.”

Singh said that Niche has worked with Twitter and Vine in recent years to fuel the creator economy by creating a free, cross-platform analytics platform and connecting rising Vine stars like Zach King directly with some of the world’s biggest brands.

The move chimes in with Twitter’s recently launch of a native 30-second video player similar to the Vine video player and no doubt there is plenty of scope to capture marketing momentum from the stars that this move will create.

Prior to the Twitter acquisition Niche is understood to have raised US$4m in venture capital from Lerer Ventures, SV Angel, Advancit Capital and William Morris Endeavor.

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Vine image via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

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