The company aiming to be every YouTuber’s first stop on their way to fame just made an important step in the right direction: Israeli startup Artlist announced the acquisition of American startup Motion Array, a digital assets marketplace platform, for $65 million. The all cash deal will increase Artlist’s product offering by half a million new digital stock assets for video creators and filmmakers around the globe.

"This move is invaluable to Artlist as it helps us maintain our position as the go-to solution for creators in the constantly expanding world of video content," said Itzik Elbaz, co-founder and co-CEO of Artlist. "We are excited to bring our high-quality curation capabilities to additional creative assets. Motion Array's offerings will streamline our continued efforts to provide our subscribers with creative freedom and increase their video production value."

6 million users

Since its 2016 foundation as a bootstrapped music licensing company, Artlist's platform has amassed over 13,000 music clips, 70,000 videos, and over 15,000 sound effects for video creators, with all being updated daily. Unlike existing platforms that require limited subscriptions or acquiring separate licensees for each video or sound bite, Artlist on the other hand provides a yearly limitless subscription. The cheapest subscription starts at $150 for strictly sound effects and can climb up to $300 for the whole shebang.

"We feel that this merger is just the boost needed to turn Motion Array and Artlist into a true powerhouse marketplace that caters to all creators' needs," said Motion Array co-founder, Tyler Williams. "This move is a fulfillment of the vision we had when we created our company 7 years ago and we are truly excited."

Motion Array, which was founded in 2013, also operates in the content creation sphere, where video creators can access a library full of creatives. The American company’s impressive amount of users will be added to Artlist’s pool of over 6 million users.

Artlist

"We believe that Motion Array's rich collection presents the perfect opportunity for Artlist to move towards becoming a one-stop-shop of creative stock assets," said Ira Belsky, co-founder and co-CEO of Artlist. "The addition of Motion Array's flexible tools and vast catalog, including the world's largest Premiere Pro template catalog, will secure Artlist's position as the leading company in the video creation industry."

Back in June, Artlist raised $48 million in a funding round led by KKR, with participation from Elephant Partners - which led a unannounced round in 2018. At the time, the company reported that it would use the capital to enhance its catalog and expand into new categories. Well, the acquisition of Motion Array seems like a definite move in the right direction.

Over the last few months, Artlist has launched 3 new divisions: AI, BI, and audio, while also uploading over 40,000 new video clips and 4,300 additional songs. "In Artlist we found kinship in the aim of making the lives of creators and editors easier through quality and affordable solutions," said Motion Array co-founder, Eri Levin. "We are very proud of Motion Array's achievements in the industry and its impact on creators' works as well as on the field of digital asset creation."