Startup · $58m raised
Mountain View
Every investor coverage indicates participated in a round Whatsapp raised.
The transaction that ended Whatsapp's run as a startup, per published coverage. It closes the funding history too, where it is the ladder's last rung.
| Bought by | Kind | Announced | Price | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acquisition | 19 Feb 2014 | $19b | economictimes.indiatimes.com, brandclickx.com, Aura Group portfolio, SmartCompany, about.fb.com, wired.com, The Guardian Australia - Technology, investor.atmeta.com | |
| Meta (Facebook) | Acquisition | 19 Feb 2014 | $19b | techreviewadvisor.com, untaylored.com |
Companies Whatsapp acquired or merged with, per published coverage. Buying a company is not investing in one: nothing here counts in the deals column.
| Name | Role | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| Anton Borzov | Head of Product (former) | SmartCompany |
| Brian Acton | Founder | brandclickx.com, techreviewadvisor.com, untaylored.com, gadgets.beebom.com, wired.com, The Guardian Australia - Technology |
| Jan Koum | CEO (former) · Founder | brandclickx.com, techreviewadvisor.com, untaylored.com, gadgets.beebom.com, SmartCompany, about.fb.com, wired.com, The Guardian Australia - Technology, investor.atmeta.com |
| Julia Wells | Blackbird Ventures, Startup Daily | |
| Will Cathcart | Head | untaylored.com |
Stories naming Whatsapp. Where several outlets covered the same round, they are bundled under whichever ran the fullest account.
A retrospective on Sequoia Capital's roughly $60 million backing of WhatsApp across several rounds, and Facebook's $19 billion buyout of the messaging app, which TechCrunch estimated returned about fifty times the firm's investment.
Also wired.com·SmartCompany
A retrospective explainer on WhatsApp's ownership: its 2009 founding, Meta's roughly $19 billion takeover in 2014, the founders' later departures, privacy disputes, and the app's scale and estimated value under Meta.
Explainer tracing WhatsApp's ownership: founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton, bought by Facebook in 2014 for $19 billion, now a Meta platform earning through its Business API.
Weekly roundup covering seven Australian companies' fresh capital: EV charging, satellite IoT, sovereign cloud, wearables, workplace messaging, plus two crowdfunding raises on Birchal.
Also Startup Daily·Startup Daily·@AuManufacturing·@AuManufacturing
Profile of Annie Liao, 23, founder of Build Club, who has closed a $1.8 million round to build an AI learning platform, tracing her path from Westpac, BCG and Aura Ventures into startups.
Also Capital Brief·SmartCompany·Forbes Australia·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily
Build Club and AWS are launching a six-week Sydney accelerator for 15 technical founders in AI, offering credits, mentoring and a US tour, with two founders already chosen.
Commentary piece on VC exit strategies (IPO, trade sale, secondary sale) referencing recent Australian tech M&A deals and venture funding rounds including Sendle, UpGuard, Sonder and others.
Aura Group's analysis of venture capital exits, reviewing recent Australian deals such as MessageMedia's sale and several funding rounds, then explaining the three liquidity paths: IPOs, trade sales and secondary sales.
Also OIF Ventures portfolio·Square Peg Capital portfolio·Square Peg Capital portfolio·investor.atmeta.com·The Guardian Australia - Technology·OIF Ventures portfolio·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Techboard·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·SmartCompany·wired.com·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·about.fb.com·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·Australian FinTech·rswebsols.com·brandclickx.com·economictimes.indiatimes.com·TechCrunch Venture·TechCrunch Venture·Crunchbase News·TechCrunch Venture·Crunchbase News·SmartCompany·Startup Daily·LaunchVic
Roundup: Square takes majority control of Jay Z's Tidal for US$297 million; WeLab banks a US$75 million Series C led by Allianz; construction software startup Mastt raises $2.2 million.
An opinion column arguing entrepreneurs do their best work in downturns, retelling WhatsApp's founding after the GFC, its early backing and sale to Facebook, and predicting a wave of purpose-driven startups from COVID-19.
WIRED republishes its 2014 profile of WhatsApp co-founder Jan Koum, covering his path from Ukraine to Silicon Valley, Sequoia's investments, and Facebook's $19 billion takeover, published as he departs over privacy disagreements.
Facebook has announced its biggest acquisition, buying messaging app WhatsApp for $19bn in cash and shares. The piece also recalls Google's reported $1bn bid, Facebook's failed Snapchat offer, and Google's Nest purchase.