Virtual networking startup twine has announced that it has acquired Glimpse, a similar matchmaking tool and developer for Zoom Apps that has been working with Zoom to develop APIs for Zoom Breakout Rooms and enable a better networking experience on the platform.
Both companies have been going all-in on building technology that facilitates remote work and virtual meetings, and the news of the two joining forces makes sense. In a blog post explaining the acquisition, twine co-founder and CEO Lawrence Coburn notes that the companies’ “mission, trajectories, journey, and learnings have been eerily similar.”
twine has been powering serendipitous networking sessions in virtual environments for the past year and a half. It was in the works for months before the pandemic hit, but it ended up launching at a pivotal time for virtual event tech.
Meanwhile, Glimpse was started in 2019 by Helena Merk and Brian Li to help people connect online. It was initially aimed at university students, but when the pandemic hit, they turned to Zoom to help build the future of remote work and events.
“There is an important category of software waiting to be built that will help preserve company culture, employee camaraderie, and retention in the age of remote work,” said Coburn. “With the acquisition of Glimpse, we believe we are well positioned to serve the camaraderie and belonging needs of any company that is relying on remote work.”
Glimpse’s Zoom Breakout Room management (previously known as Shuffle by Glimpse) has been appropriately renamed twine for Zoom and will be available on the Zoom App Marketplace in a few days. The app will enable Zoom users to access features like matchmaking, spatial networking, and other fun tools to help people connect virtually.
twine will be taking over operations of Glimpse’s product and technology, and most of Glimpse’s team will be joining twine. Merk and Li will be staying on indefinitely as consultants. The combined company will continue to serve Glimpse customers — existing customers are not automatically being moved to a twine account — but they will no longer be releasing new features and will spend less time on upkeep moving forward.
Coburn adds, “We believe that what the Glimpse team has managed to build on Zoom will be the de facto way that Zoom customers will run breakout rooms from here on out. This Zoom app is that powerful.”