That’s just one of the unusual aspects reporters have dug up since the news broke on Valentine’s Day about the sweet deal for Viber Media, whose founders have not been responding to requests for interviews.Īnother surprising fact: Viber doesn’t offer an entirely unique product.
It grew to 280 million users in nearly 200 countries on bootstrapped funds and a whole lot of chutzpah. Until Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten agreed to pay up to $900 million for call-and-messaging app provider Viber Media, the startup founded by Israelis had never received a single shekel, dollar or yen of venture capital.