South Africa-based startup Over, which developed an app that allows businesses to easily create content for social media sites and instantly queue the content for promotion through integration partner Buzzoid, has been acquired by American publicly-traded internet domain registrar and web hosting company GoDaddy for an undisclosed amount.
Launched in Cape Town in 2012, Over began life as a simple “text over photos” app for sharing goals and inspirational quotes, but developed into a multifaceted tool that allows businesses to easily create photos and videos to post on their social media platforms.
The service is now used by more than one million active users, with Over becoming a global business. It has now been acquired by GoDaddy for an undisclosed amount, with the startup’s 76-person team joining the US-based company but continuing to operate out of its Cape Town office.
GoDaddy’s recently relaunched its website-building tools under the name “Websites+Marketing”, offering a host of additional features, and the Over acquisition adds to its product suite on that front.
Matt Winn, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Over, said the acquisition was a “huge moment” for the company, especially as it was being acquired by a firm with a vision the same as its own – to empower entrepreneurs.
“When we first spoke with GoDaddy last year, it was clear GoDaddy was aligned with who we are, who we serve, and how we can help people succeed online. When GoDaddy CEO Aman Bhutani spoke at the Websites+Marketing September launch event and announced to an audience of entrepreneurs, “We’re about what you’re about”, he perfectly captured their commitment to customers,” Winn said.
As part of GoDaddy, Over will continue to develop its app, while also expanding its capability to serve entrepreneurs everywhere with impactful creative tools necessary to succeed online.
“Over will help bolster GoDaddy’s focus on enabling entrepreneurs and small businesses to look great everywhere online that matters via Websites+Marketing. Putting their website builder together with our best-in-class social content creator on the largest platform for entrepreneurs is an incredible combination,” said Winn.
“While we work to integrate Over into GoDaddy’s Websites+Marketing suite, we will continue to keep improving the Over app. We will continue to develop new features and capabilities that enable Over users to stand out with creative visual content. And we will continue to provide the excellent customer service you’ve come to expect from us.”
