The social media space might have one less independent option in the future if rumors of pin-board app Pinterest buying photo-sharing platform VSCO are true.
The former, a behemoth sporting hundreds of millions of users a month and a $USD 49 billion valuation, is targeting the latter’s some 100 million users (2 million of which are paying subscribers) to tap into both VSCO’s youth appeal as well as its dynamic photo-sharing options.
VSCO’s most recent valuation placed the company at some $USD 550 million a figure that we expect will figure prominently in any acquisition talks between the two entities.
Aside from the obvious focus on sharing photos and digital content, Pinterest and VSCO also have some complementarities that could help a combined entity. VSCO, for example, largely mimics Instagram’s format sans likes, comments, follower counts, and many of the other features that make Instagram a less-than-ideal place for some people. Further, the subscription model that boasts some 2 million members eliminates VSCO’s need for advertising.
Outside of the photo-sharing platform, VSCO also has offered a range of digital media content creation solutions over its history including a program to help with Lightroom Workflow and even a “journaling” app for digital content creators. It’s not really known how other, non-core functions of VSCO will be impacted when this acquisition closes (if it happens at all) but it should be interesting to watch develop given the company’s reputation among some people in our industry.
What do you think of Pinterest’s potential purchase of VSCO? Do you use either app? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Be sure to check out our other photography news articles on Light Stalking at this link right here.
