Facebook acquired Instagram for approximately $1 billion in April 2012. The deal combined Facebook’s large social network with Instagram’s rapidly growing mobile photo-sharing service.
Instagram was founded in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. It began as Burbn, a location-based check-in application, before the founders simplified it around photo sharing and filters. The iPhone app launched in October 2010.
The acquisition was notable because Instagram had a small team and had not yet become a major advertising business. Facebook said Instagram would remain independently branded and would continue operating as a separate app. The price was paid in cash and stock.
A common mix-up is confusing this deal with Facebook’s later acquisition of WhatsApp, which was announced in 2014 for about $19 billion. Instagram’s acquisition was much earlier and centered on mobile photography.