Singapore’s Migme buys LoveByte, enters apps for couples space

Two of Singapore’s chat apps have joined forces. Migme (ASX:MIG), a social network with about 5 million monthly active users in August, has bought the smaller LoveByte for an undisclosed amount of cash and equity. The actual payout will “largely” be based on performance, the press release says.

LoveByte was founded in 2012 by Amelia Chen and Steve Sng. It received a six-digit investment from Ruvento Ventures and Crystal Horse Investments. It has an iOS and Android chat app for couples which, at last count, has over 237,000 monthly active users, of which 131,000 are on iOS and the rest Android.

That’s a slight increase from August 2014, where the app had 700,000 registered users and 210,000 (or 30 percent) monthly active users. By comparison, the Asian leader in the couples app space is Between, which has 9 million registered users, according to a rep from the startup.

Migme listed recently in the Australian Securities Exchange. It operates an app where users can chat, blog, as well as send stickers and gifts.

LoveByte is somewhat similar, except that interactions are limited to couples. LoveByte will not close down after the buyout. Rather, the team will continue focusing on the app, building more features, and improving existing ones.

Crystal Horse says it has no plans to sell off its stake in the startup this year. “We are more than happy with the positive return Migme gave on our investment,” says partner Chun Dong Chau. Ruvento echoed the sentiment.

Migme CEO Steven Goh says that LoveByte will lend its expertise to improve Migme’s offerings. “We like how Amelia and Steve are thinking about things. We’d add that Migme has to update its avatars and LoveByte does a better job. And we are also in the business of virtual gifts and the LoveByte team is doing a great job there,” Goh tells Tech in Asia over email. The goal of implementing these features is to boost user engagement, which in his view leads to monetization. This fits into Migme’s larger strategy.

Not just chat, but entertainment

Notably, the press release calls Migme an entertainment platform. In September, it sealed a partnership with Universal Music Indonesia where new artists can enter the platform to engage with fans through promotional contests, concerts, and appearances. In return, these artists will get a share of digital goods sales. Earlier, in February, we reported that Migme acquired Alivenotdead, a site started by a Rotten Tomatoes founder that connects music and film artists with their fans. The site had a database of 1,800 artists.

See more: Migme acquires Alivenotdead, a site started by Rotten Tomatoes founders

This approach echoes how other Asian chat apps like Line and KakaoTalk have turned their platforms into marketing machines for celebrities.

Migme isn’t just taking care of one side of the marketplace. It’s also hoping to increase its reach with consumers. The company recently completed partnerships with handset makers and distributors which could eventually result in its app preloaded into over half of Indonesia’s new smartphones shipments. As a start, Migme has been installed into 700,000 phones created by Indonesian smartphone brand Smartfren. What’s worth tracking is how many of these phones are actually purchased by consumers, and how many of these consumers convert into loyal Migme users.

Electronics and handset manufacturer Foxconn’s investment in Migme, worth US$9.6 million, is geared towards widening its distribution channel to consumers. Migme had 3.8 million monthly active users when the deal was announced in April.