Exclusive: Discord hires teams from two startups in bid to diversify audience
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Online discussion service Discord plans to announce today it has hired the teams behind two startups as it seeks to further diversify its audience beyond gamers.
Why it matters: The two "acquihires" are designed to both help keep existing Discord users more engaged and help make the service more appealing to two lucrative constituencies — brands and content creators.
Details:
- Discord is hiring the nine people behind Byte, which focuses on content creators, and the six people behind Zyper, which works with brands.
- Discord isn't buying the assets of either company and plans to redirect the staff of each to help Discord broaden the reach of its own core service.
The big picture: Discord has pledged to avoid both advertising and collecting user data, making outreach to brands and content creators important to the company's ability to grow profitably.
What they're saying: Discord COO Mak Azadi told Axios that the moves are designed to help the company staff up more rapidly than it could through traditional hiring.
- "2020 was a big year for Discord," Azadi said. "And in order to build on this momentum, we have to hire a lot of awesome people this year."