Twitter acquires London-based tech startup, Sphere

The website post revealed that as part of the acquisition, around 20 people currently working at Sphere are expected to join the team at Twitter.

In a bid to rapidly diversify its product offering to users, Twitter has acquired London-based start-up company Sphere, which operates a group chat application with the same name. Twitter is reportedly looking to update its own messaging and group chat services with the acquisition. 

A spokesperson from Twitter confirmed the news of the acquisition to TechCrunch on Wednesday, October 20, but did not disclose the financial details of the deal. 

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Following the confirmation, Sphere acknowledged the news by stating in a blog post uploaded on its official website that it admires Twitter’s commitment to strengthening its community-building endeavours by launching new features and services on its platform such as Communities and Spaces. 

“When we met the team, we were even more impressed by how seriously they are pursuing interest-based community and how much they believe in its potential impact,” the blog post further read. 

The website post also revealed that as part of the acquisition, around 20 people currently working at Sphere are expected to join the team at Twitter. It affirmed that Sphere will be ceasing its operations as a standalone app in November, but did not provide the statistical details of its current user base. 

Recalling Sphere’s journey as a successful start-up, the blog post stated that the company’s founding mission was “to help anyone find and share knowledge instantly through the creation of a global brain.” It also shared that during its early days, Sphere’s mission had been to build a marketplace of paid experts from around the world by connecting them through group chat. 

Sphere asserted that helping people to find their community was the core challenge that the company had overtaken while operating.