Yik Yak, the Atlanta-based social network that burst onto the scene in 2013 but was hurt by concerns about how its app was used, has sold its engineering team to Square Inc., according to a Bloomberg report.
The business news service, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, said Square paid less than $3 million for between five and ten of Yik Yak’s engineers who will move to a new employer.
Yik Yak CEO Tyler Droll will not join Square, according to the report.
Square declined to comment on the deal and Yik Yak didn’t respond to a request for comment, Bloomberg reported.
Square is a mobile payments firm led by Twitter Inc. co-founder Jack Dorsey. It has made acquisitions in recent years to expand into loans, food delivery, and software services, Bloomberg reported.
Yik Yak, founded by Droll and fellow Atlantan Brooks Buffington, created an app that enabled anonymous chat groups within small geographic areas, such as a college campus.
The app was a big hit initially but its popularity fell off. The app’s image was hurt by cases of cyber-harassment and threats, and some universities debated whether to ban it, according to Bloomberg.
The app reportedly changed its policy to require usernames.
Late last year the company laid off about 60 percent of its staff, according to reports at the time.
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