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French app developer Voodoo has acquired photo sharing app BeReal for €500 million, the company announced on Tuesday.

Why it matters: The deal brings the once viral app into a new chapter as it competes with dominant social players like Meta and TikTok.

Flashback: BeReal captured the attention of Gen Z and other social media users back in 2022. Once a day, users received a push notification to take a photo of what they were doing — with their phone's front and back cameras — and share within a specific time window. 

BeReal differed from other social media by encouraging less time spent on the app overall and authentic posts.

Paris-based BeReal reportedly raised about $90 million in venture capital funding, including a $60 million Series B in 2022, per TechCrunch, and a $30 million Series A in 2021 co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Accel.

Zoom in: BeReal will be a part of Voodoo's portfolio of apps. It claims to have more than 7 billion downloads worldwide. 

Voodoo said BeReal has more than 40 million monthly active users and that more than half of them use the app at least six days a week.

Voodoo appointed Aymeric Roffé as CEO of BeReal. Roffé is currently CEO of one of Voodoo's other social media apps, Wizz. 

BeReal co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat will stay on in the short term, the company said.

What they're saying: "[BeReal] is the most successful social app launched in nearly a decade," Voodoo CEO Alexandre Yazdi posted on X. "They have created a unique behavior...where every user is an active participant and not a passive consumer of content."

What's next: Voodoo said it plans to "further invest" in BeReal and provide expertise in product strategy, growth and infrastructure.

BeReal sold to French app developer Voodoo

The photo sharing app went viral in 2022.

Animated GIF of cell phone with dollar signs coming from it

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Illustration of cell phone with dollar signs coming from it

French app developer Voodoo has acquired photo sharing app <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="BeReal" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2022/04/11/bereal-gen-zs-favorite-app-authenticity" data-vars-content-id="1b785b94-33bc-4c6a-877c-13058f7750e4" data-vars-headline="BeReal sold to French app developer Voodoo" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2022/04/11/bereal-gen-zs-favorite-app-authenticity" target="_self">BeReal</a> for €500 million, the company <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="announced" data-vars-click-url="https://blog.voodoo.io/articles/voodoo-acquires-bereal" data-vars-content-id="1b785b94-33bc-4c6a-877c-13058f7750e4" data-vars-headline="BeReal sold to French app developer Voodoo" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://blog.voodoo.io/articles/voodoo-acquires-bereal" target="_blank">announced</a> on Tuesday.Why it matters: The deal brings the once viral app into a new chapter as it competes with dominant social players like Meta and TikTok.

BeReal sold to French app developer Voodoo

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