Get GIFs in a Jiffy at Giphy

A picture is worth a thousand words and a video probably says a lot more. But, what do you do if you need something in between? The founders of Giphy, Alex Chung and Jace Cooke, encountered this same question when they were discussing the growing dominance of visual media. GIFs were already popular at that time, but there was no dedicated platform to search for GIFs. GIFs were literally scattered all over the web and people had a hard time searching for the right one. These problems inspired the founders to launch a dedicated platform where people can search and find the GIFs they need. Giphy was launched in 2013 and since then it has ventured into various new business paradigms.

Giphy became an overnight success, as it enabled a centralized platform to search for GIFs. The company’s website currently hosts millions of GIFs across various categories and has monthly page views running into several hundred millions. Each and every GIF is tagged with relevant keywords, which makes searching for them a lot easier for users. Over the years, Giphy has found new ways to grow its presence. One of the notable innovations is the partnership with live events and Live TV, wherein GIFs are created and shared with users in real-time.

Giphy also scores high in terms of tech innovation, as it has developed its own automated system of creating GIFs. This allows the company to continuously update its GIF database. At the heart of the automated GIF creation technology is Giphy DVR, a software system that has been programmed to automatically scan unlimited volumes of video and live broadcasts. The software has the ability to detect movement and it automatically creates all the possible combinations of GIFs, as can be made from a given video clip. Obviously, this creates thousands of useless GIFs, but that’s not a worry because the editors can quickly scan through and pick up the useful and relevant ones. The automated GIF technology, coupled with its advanced search engine, has made Giphy the Internet’s Go-To Gif Brand.

The notion that Giphy is based on a revolutionary idea has been substantiated by the fact that Facebook had tried to acquire Giphy. The founders declined, as they felt that they have the right business model to grow on their own. Giphy is well-funded and has received investments worth $150.9 million through four rounds of funding. The company plans to grow further through collaborations with other GIF creators. It will also step up focus on exploring new business opportunities with top global brands.