Photobucket Announces the Acquisition of Bay Area Social Startup Milyoni, the Creators of Madcards for Mobile
Apr 22, 2015, 05:48 ET
DENVER, April 22, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Photobucket Corporation, a leading online photo sharing and print community, today announced the acquisition of Milyoni, the leader in social videos and the creator of Madcards, multimedia cards designed for mobile. Along with the acquisition, Milyoni CEO John Corpus joins Photobucket as chief revenue officer. Milyoni (pronounced "million-eye") was founded in 2009 as a social engagement platform for entertainment companies, brands, and artists worldwide. Their partners include Universal Music Group, iHeartRadio, MasterCard, Columbia Records, Universal Pictures, Lionsgate, Fender, Monster Energy, and Paramount Studios. Milyoni was the first to launch feature length films on Facebook and also launched the first pay-per-view concert in 2011. Ziggy Marley used Milyoni's social video for live audience Q&As and ELLE Magazine used Milyoni in their fashion shoots. In 2014 Milyoni introduced Madcards for mobile. The Madcards technology is flexible and includes a wide variety of content options designed to maximize user engagement on mobile. Madcards come in card packs that can be easily customized to include onsite and offsite photos, videos, commerce, polls and trivia.
Milyoni is the second acquisition this year by Photobucket, who last month announced the acquisition of the Lasso Chat and Photo Messaging App for mobile. "We see up to 40% more user engagement with Milyoni's unique combination of social, brand and mobile interaction," said Tom Munro, CEO of Photobucket. "The combination of Milyoni, Lasso and Photobucket provides users with a unique and simple way for family and friends to bring their photos together and interact around shared experiences."
Photobucket plans to keep the Milyoni office in Pleasanton as their new Bay Area hub. With the acquisition, Photobucket gains mobile talent in product, development and brand sales. "We are delighted to be a part of Photobucket," said John Corpus, CEO of Milyoni. "With 60 million monthly global uniques, Photobucket is an attractive publisher for brands," continued Corpus. "Combining Miyoni with Photobucket will benefit consumers and provide brands with a unique way to connect with their target audience through an immersive social experience." Photobucket plans to leverage the Milyoni social platform as a new engaging native ad experience for brands, providing them with more direct interaction with their fans in a fun and socially engaging way.
Photobucket serves over 120 billion photos and videos to over 3 million websites every month. Photobucket plans to integrate the Milyoni social platform and combine with Photobucket's extensive reach across the Internet, enhancing the user experience on mobile while providing brands with a new way to connect and engage with their target audience.
About Photobucket
With over 100 million registered users, Photobucket Corporation is the world's leading dedicated photo and video sharing service. In 2014, Photobucket expanded to include a new web and mobile service for printed products. The Photobucket user community uploads millions of images and videos per day from the web and connected digital devices. Photobucket hosts, preserves and protects photos and videos while bringing members advanced browsing, sharing and editing experiences. Each month Photobucket serves over 120 billion photos and videos to over 3 million websites. In addition to uploading and sharing media, its community can now create and purchase innovative print products from photos that reside almost anywhere including all Photobucket-enabled devices, social services, and photo applications. Photobucket is headquartered in Denver, Colorado. For further information, visit photobucket.com.
About Milyoni
Milyoni is an innovative provider of social and mobile software for the media and entertainment industry. Founded in 2009, Milyoni has brought industry firsts to social commerce and entertainment with products that include Social Video, Video on Demand, and more recently Madcards. Madcards uniquely converts digital content, including video and photos into actionable cards for highly engaging mobile consumption, collection and sharing. Mobile cards are the dominant design pattern for a new generation of mobile applications and Milyoni is leading the industry with the greatest number of card types and points of engagement. Milyoni works with major movie studios, record labels and multi-channel networks seeking to reach the digital audiences. Milyoni is headquartered in Pleasanton, California. For further information, visit Milyoni.com.
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SOURCE Photobucket Corporation