Twitter has agreed to acquire Niche, a startup that facilitates advertising deals for social media stars.
The social networking company announced the news today, with a blog post, but did not disclose terms.
Launched in 2013, Niche bills itself as a social media talent agency. It scours services like YouTube and Vine (another Twitter property) for breakout stars and signs them to mainstream media deals. According to a report from last year, Niche works with advertisers such as Gap, American Eagle, the NFL, Proctor & Gamble, and Warner Bros. Plus, it provides tools that helps stars use popular social services—and track their fanbase.
For Twitter, the deal provides a way of feeding the use of its online services, but it can also directly boost revenues. The kinds of deals facilitated by Niche can be lucrative. According to a recent story in New York Magazine, when Vine star Nash Grier made branded videos for Virgin Mobile and MTV, he pulled in $4,166 a second—compared to the $5,827 per second pulled in by Robert Downey Jr., the highest paid actor in the world, on The Avengers.
After going public in November, the company is under pressure to find new revenue streams. Recently, the company announced it would start selling ads on other apps and sites.
