Evan Spiegel (Photo : http://i.dawn.com/)
Photo messaging app Snapchat has acquired a QR scanning startup and an eyeglass camera maker, according to new leaked emails from the recent Sony Pictures digital breach.
The leaked emails, sent and received between Mitch Lasky, a board member from Snapchat, and Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, revealed that Snapchat purchased iBeacon startup and QR scanning app Scan.me for $33 million in Class B common Snapchat shares, $3 million in restricted stake units and cash worth $14 million. Additionally, Snapchat also bought Epiphany Eyewear, a Google Glass-like product, maker Vergence Labs for $11 million in cash and stock worth $4 million.
In addition, the emails also revealed the price of Snapchat's acquisition of real-time video messaging startup AddLive. The California-based online firm bought the latter in cash for $10 million and stakes worth $20 million.
Snapchat is also revealed to have been developing its own music feature and that Evan Spiegel, Chief Executive Officer of Snapchat, hopes to boost artists' fame and profit from it through the app.
Snapchat and Vevo negotiated to develop a feature that is reported to give the app's users to view music videos inside Snapchat in August, but was postponed due to a problem with sharing its revenues on advertising.
Gawker media blog Valleywag confirmed in a report that Snapchat turned down more than $3 billion from social media network giant Facebook. The leaked emails between the Sony Entertainment CEO and Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell revealed that there was more than the initial number. Gladwell asked Lynton if Snapchat was "insane" for turning down the $3 billion offer.
"if you knew the real number you would book us all a suite at Bellvue," wrote Lynton in the email.
Snapchat allows users to exchange images with each other. The photos shared would be deleted after the recipient views it.
