// startup autopsy
Qik
Mobile video pioneer absorbed into the giant it helped build.
acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire
Fatal mistake: Qik's technology moat disappeared once Skype integrated its capabilities into its own platform, leaving no reason for the standalone product to exist.
| Founded | 2006 |
|---|---|
| Closed | 2014 |
| Country | USA |
| Sector | Developer tools |
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Key Events Timeline
FOUNDING
Qik founded to enable live mobile video streaming, years ahead of mainstream adoption.
ACQUISITION ATTEMPT
Skype acquired Qik for an estimated $150M to gain mobile video streaming technology.
PIVOT
Microsoft acquires Skype for $8.5B, putting Qik's future under Microsoft's corporate roadmap decisions.
PRODUCT LAUNCH
Skype integrates Qik's video messaging technology into Skype's core product, making standalone Qik redundant.
SHUTDOWN
Qik officially shuts down as a standalone service, all functionality absorbed into Skype.
MEDIA_MENTION
Qik, a company that was *very* early on in the stream-live-video-from-your-phone trend that popped up and then quickly faded around 2008-2009, is being retired by its parent company, Skype. Skype acquired Qik back in 2011 for upwards of $100 million. While Skype doesn’t make direct use of the phone-