Founded almost 17 years back, Los-Angeles-based DeviantArt claims to be the largest online social network for artists and art enthusiasts, and a platform for emerging and established artists to exhibit, promote, and share their works with an art-centric community.
DeviantArt stated that its submission policy, terms of service and copyright policy will all remain the same and all the members will own their respective works. In the future, there’s a possibility Wix might provide opportunities for DeviantArt’s users to license their work to more people around the world, as well as opportunities for Wix users to join DeviantArt and make the community stronger.
According to a Reuters report, Tel Aviv, Israel-based Wix will have access to more than 40 million registered members and over 325 million pieces of original art. Post closing the acquisition, DeviantArt will be still based out of LA but the team will join Wix management team along with its Co-Founder and CEO, Angelo Sotira. The acquisition deal will also see that further investment is put into developing DeviantArt’s mobile and desktop applications.
In a DeviantArt blog, Co-Founder and CEO of Wix, Avishai Abrahami, said that the collective, universal understanding of what DeviantArt is and how it operates won’t be lost. “We’ll just be able to do it a lot more efficiently, with the resources, staff, and data-driven know-how to best serve each and every member of our community like never before. All of the DeviantArt staff will stay, plus more will join us. Very soon, you’ll begin to see the kinds of changes we have all talked about and exciting ones you never expected.”
TechCrunch published a report where Abrahami, said “Over its 16-year history, DeviantArt has built an impressive online community that is incredibly loyal, highly engaged and regularly produces stunning art and design. The DeviantArt community is talented and robust and hungry for additional product expertise. We understand their passion, share their creative vision and are excited to offer the power of the Wix platform to their millions of artists.”
