Twitter has closed on a deal to acquire ZipDial, a Bangalore-based startup with a marketing approach that's probably unlike any you've heard before.
ZipDial's bread and butter is a "missed called" system that allows users to engage with content without incurring expensive fees. Specifically, a user can dial a special phone number for a business then hang up before being charged a fee for the call. This will then trigger an incoming call, an SMS or app notification with more information about the business or topic they initially called about.
While that may sound asinine to some, we have to remember that there are billions of people around the world that can't afford the cost of data packages. With ZipDial, these people are able to open a line of communication that is free of charge and keep up-to-date with the latest worldly developments, sports scores and more.
Ultimately, Twitter is hoping the acquisition will help make its platform even more accessible to people around the world. With billions more people expected to come online for the first time in the next several years, companies like Twitter are positioning themselves to take advantage of it.
Terms of the deal weren't publicized although scuttlebutt suggests it is valued between $30 million to $40 million. Twitter did note, however, that the majority of ZipDial's team will be joining them.