// HALL OF FLAME · STARTUP AUTOPSY

Founded	2015
Closed	2018
Country	USA
Sector	Social
Total raised	3
Collapse type	Acqui-hire
Founder	Casey Neistat

Beme

"Casey Neistat built the anti-Instagram. CNN paid $25M for it. They built a deals website."

$3M

RAISED

—

EMPLOYEES

MONTHS

acquisition gone wrongAcqui-hire

// Fatal mistake: Acquisition by mission-incompatible media corporation

Key Events Timeline

2015-01

FOUNDING

Beme founded by YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat and Matt Hackett, built around an authentic video-sharing mechanic that prevented users from seeing what they filmed.

2015-07

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Beme officially launched on iOS in July 2015, generating approximately 1.2 million downloads in its first week driven largely by Neistat's YouTube following.

2016-11

ACQUISITION ATTEMPT

CNN acquired Beme in November 2016 for a reported $25 million, with the stated goal of using the platform to build a millennial-focused digital news product.

2017-06

PIVOT

CNN shut down the original Beme app in early 2017 and attempted to relaunch it as a news-centric video platform, abandoning the core authentic-sharing mechanic that had defined the product.

2018-01

CEO CHANGE

Casey Neistat departed CNN in early 2018 after the Beme news product failed to gain traction, signaling the effective end of CNN's millennial digital strategy built around the acquisition.

2018-06

SHUTDOWN

CNN fully shut down Beme by mid-2018, redirecting the brand name to CNN Underscored, a deals and product-recommendations site unrelated to the original social video concept.

🔥 Hall of Flame 35%🏆 Hall of Fame 40%

Beme was a social video app by YouTube filmmaker Casey Neistat, built around authentic sharing: you pressed the camera against your chest to record, preventing you from seeing what you filmed and eliminating the performative staging of typical social media.

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More Social →More from USA →More acquisition gone wrong failures →Raised: 3

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