Powtoon acquires Showbox.com to extend its video-creation platform

Powtoon, an online platform that allows its users to easily create videos for digital marketing, YouTube ads or business presentations, today announced that it has acquired Tel Aviv-based Showbox.com, a cloud-based video-editing platform for amateurs that had raised $12.4 million before this acquisition and currently holds six video technology patents.

Powtoon, which says that it has more than 25 million users, plans to integrate into its own products many of Showbox.com’s features, including its green-screen technology.

This is quite a departure for Powtoon, which always focused on letting its users create videos without having to ever appear in them. That made it great for explainer videos, but also limited its appeal. To gain market share and expand its feature set, Powtoon clearly recognized Showbox.com as a logical acquisition, given that its focus is squarely on making amateur video look good.

“When the possibility arose for us to acquire the company, we jumped on this unique opportunity,” said Ilya Spitalnik, Powtoon’s founder and CEO. “This acquisition positions Powtoon to deliver so much more value to our customers. Our users will soon be able to create videos using dynamic green-screen technology, making it appear as though they were produced in a professional studio, even if they were shot at their office desk or in their basement.”