Wordpress’ parent company, Automattic, has acquired messaging app Beeper, the app founded by Canadian Eric Migicovsky (remember the Pebble smartwatch?).
Beeper made headlines recently for allowing a workaround for Android users to use iMessage to message Apple users, through its app Beeper Mini. This resulted in a game of cat-and-mouse with Apple, in which the latter eventually won for the most part.
On Tuesday, Beeper said it was acquired by Automattic, which Bloomberg claims was for a reported $125 million USD according to sources.
Beeper ended up generating over 115,000 users while it was in beta, supporting messaging across 14 different messaging networks.
Migicovsky, Beeper’s CEO, will become Automattic’s Head of Messaging. He said that Automattic’s CEO was an early investor in Beeper and supports the goal of becoming the “best chat app on Earth”.
“This is a big bet. Automattic is doubling down on chat after their acquisition last year of Texts.com, a messaging app with a similar mission. Our teams and products will merge, and I will take on the role leading the team as Head of Messaging. It will take a bit of time for us to integrate and combine forces under the Beeper brand. We’ve got big plans! I’m really excited about the future of chat,” wrote Migicovsky today.
Following the news of the acquisition, Beeper’s free chat app has exited its beta and is now available for everyone.
