Photobucket Corporation, a leading online photo sharing and print community, 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.
www.photobucket.com
