“Yik Yak is back.”
That’s the announcement posted in big, bold type on anonymous social media startup Yik Yak Inc.’s website.
Once an Atlanta startup success story that reached a $400 million valuation, it became a tale of layoffs and an inability to expand past a niche audience, according to the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s previous reporting.
Yik Yak is now back in the Apple App Store, and its revitalization enjoyed a trending spot on Twitter most of Aug. 16.
The new owners are based in Nashville, according to the website and Twitter account. The owners could not be reached for comments before press time and are not listed on its website, LinkedIn or Twitter.
The original iteration of Yik Yak was launched in November 2013 by fraternity brothers Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington. The social media site uses geo-filtering to create an anonymous message board for users within a 5-mile radius. That anonymity created problems of cyberbullying and threats, causing some schools to ban the app.
It became a hit on college campuses and gained the backing of big-name investors such as Sequoia Capital, venture capitalist Tim Draper, DCM Ventures and Chinese social networking firm Renren Inc.
In September 2014, it ranked No. 3 in downloads among iOS apps. The next year, it had $73.5 million in investments and a 17,000-square-foot office at Piedmont Center.
But by 2017, Sequoia Capital, its biggest investor, was shopping for a buyer, the Chronicle reported. The site shut down that same year. At the time, Atlanta tech leaders said the bullying concerns and transient, collegiate user base combined with the app’s anonymity may have caused its downfall.
Droll and Tom Chernetsky, former chief technology officer of Yik Yak, are now on the team for Atlanta’s Press Sports, a social media app for athletes backed by Overline. Buffington is chief operations officer at Switchyards neighborhood work club, according to his LinkedIn.
The new owners bought Yik Yak in February 2021 and call it "the same Yik Yak experience millions knew and loved," according to the website.
“We’re bringing Yik Yak back because we believe the global community deserves a place to be authentic, a place to be equal, and a place to connect with people nearby,” the website says.
The app’s resurgence comes with new “community guardrails” that aim to stop bullying and hate speech that immediately ban users that violate those guidelines. Its website also includes “mental health resources” and “stay safe resources” tabs.
