Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has recently acquired Beeper, the company behind the iMessage-on-Android solution. The acquisition, valued at $125 million, marks Automattic’s second purchase of a cross-platform messaging solution, following its acquisition of Texts.com in October 2020.
The founder of Beeper, Eric Migicovsky, who was also the founder of Pebble smartwatch and a Y Combinator Partner, will become Automattic’s new Head of Messaging. Kishan Bagaria, the founder of Texts.com, was previously in this role and will continue to work on Beeper alongside Migicovsky.
The plan is for the teams of Beeper and Texts.com, consisting of 25 and 15 members respectively, to join forces and merge the best features of each company’s product into one platform. Beeper will become the brand for all messaging efforts at Automattic. Migicovsky expressed excitement about combining forces with Bagaria, praising his unique expertise in the field and their shared vision.
Automattic is making a significant bet on the future of messaging, aiming for an open-source approach that works across different services. The company believes this approach will be more favorable than relying on proprietary platforms such as Meta’s WhatsApp or Apple’s iMessage. Migicovsky revealed that the plan is to eventually shift users to Beeper’s own chat protocol called Matrix, an open-source protocol for secure, decentralized communication.
It is worth noting that Automattic had previously made a strategic investment of $4.6 million in Element, a company building on the Matrix protocol. Automattic also contributes annually to Matrix.org. Migicovsky sees Matrix as a successor to XMPP, offering an open-source, end-to-end encrypted client and server communications system that focuses on messaging.
The acquisition of Beeper by Automattic came about as a result of Beeper’s need for additional funding or a buyer due to the high costs associated with running the messaging app. Beeper had previously raised $16 million in outside funding, including an $8 million Series A round from Initialized. Migicovsky praised Automattic’s commitment to open-source technology and its ability to provide the financial support Beeper needed.
Regarding Beeper’s products, the company has briefed the Department of Justice (DOJ) on its experience when Apple blocked its newer app, Beeper Mini. As a result of Apple’s actions, Beeper Mini is no longer being updated. Instead, Beeper is releasing an updated version of its core app on Android, which connects with 14 different services including Messenger, WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, Instagram DM, LinkedIn, Twitter/X, Discord, Google Messages, among others. Android is the platform with the biggest user base for Beeper, with 70% of its users using Google’s operating system.
In the redesigned Beeper app for Android, the company is gradually rolling out fully end-to-end encrypted messages across Signal, with plans to add WhatsApp, Messenger, and Google Messages in the future. While the complications caused by Apple’s restrictions mean iMessage won’t be a focus for Beeper, the company is hopeful that changes in regulations, like the DOJ lawsuit and FCC investigation, could lead to innovation. Beeper currently supports RCS, which solves iMessage to Android problems such as low-resolution images and videos, lack of typing indicators, and encryption.
The new app includes several key features, such as a new icon, an updated design, instant chat opens and sends, the ability to add and modify chat networks directly on Android without requiring a desktop app, local caching of all chats on the device, and full message search. The new version of the app will automatically update for the 10,000 Android beta testers already on Beeper. The over 466,000 people on Beeper’s waitlist will now have the opportunity to try the product. The app is available on Android, iPhone, iPad, ChromeOS, macOS, Windows, and Linux.
The Beeper team aims to achieve feature parity across all platforms in the coming months as they revamp the iOS and desktop apps. In addition to the existing services, Beeper plans to add Google Voice, Snapchat, and Microsoft Teams to its platform. The company also offers a widget API for developers to build on top of Beeper. Furthermore, since Matrix is an open standard, developers will have the opportunity to create alternative clients for Beeper.
Revenue will be generated through a premium subscription model, with pricing expected to be a few dollars per month, although specific decisions regarding pricing have not yet been finalized. Currently, Beeper is free to use.
Like Automattic, Beeper operates with a remotely distributed team, with employees based in Brazil, the U.K., Germany, and the U.S. As the integration of Beeper and Texts.com progresses, Texts.com will continue to operate as both companies work together to enhance their messaging apps.
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