Yem
2022
Why
Startup for organic audience growth tools.
Substack Inc.
Independent Publishing PlatformFounded 2017- HQ today: San Francisco, California, United States
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Company data updated: October 2026
Acquisitions
Substack Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
What are Substack's biggest acquisitions?
This page covers 3 major deals from 2021 to 2022, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
- Major deals covered
- 3
- First deal
- 2021
- Most recent
- 2022
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| People & Company | 2021 | Undisclosed | Acquired the community-building consultancy People & Company to support writers in building communities around their publications. |
| Yem | 2022 | Undisclosed | Startup for organic audience growth tools. |
| Letter | 2021 | Undisclosed | Public correspondence tools. |
- What companies has Substack bought?
- Major acquisitions by Substack documented here include Yem (2022), People & Company (2021) and Letter (2021).
- What is Substack's most recent acquisition?
- The most recent Substack acquisition documented here is Yem, in 2022.
People & Company
2021
Why
Acquired the community-building consultancy People & Company to support writers in building communities around their publications.
Letter
2021
Why
Public correspondence tools.
Substack Inc.'s Growth & Acquisition Strategy
Substack's growth strategy centres on making its app a destination rather than just an email tool: Notes, recommendations, video and livestreaming give readers reasons to open the app and help writers find subscribers internally. It also recruits creators from other platforms, including a reported $20 million fund launched in 2025 to attract video creators.
How Substack Inc. Makes Money
Substack is free to use for free publications. When a writer turns on paid subscriptions, Substack takes 10% of the revenue and Stripe charges its standard card fees. Substack does not run ads on publications. Revenue therefore scales with creator earnings, which is why the company invests in discovery features (recommendations, Notes, the app) that help writers sell more subscriptions.
Substack Acquisitions FAQ
What notable acquisitions has Substack completed in its history?
In August 2021, Substack completed its first major acquisition by buying Cocoon, a private social networking app founded by former Y Combinator alumni and ex-Google engineers Sachin Monga and Alex Cornell. The acquisition brought elite social design and mobile engineering talent to accelerate the Substack mobile app and Substack Notes.
Why did Substack acquire Cocoon in 2021?
Cocoon was celebrated for its intimate, ad-free mobile design focused on private group sharing. Substack acquired the team to lead its native mobile software development, helping create the dedicated Substack Reader app for iOS and Android.
What is Substack's general philosophy regarding corporate M&A vs. internal building?
Substack strongly favors internal, organic product development. Rather than acquiring fragmented software startups with conflicting codebases, Substack's engineering team builds its text editor, podcast hosting, video integration, and community chat features directly into a unified platform.
Did Substack acquire any podcast or audio hosting startups?
Rather than acquiring a third-party podcast host, Substack built its native podcasting infrastructure internally, developing custom secure RSS feeds, audio embeds, and voiceover tools that integrate directly with Stripe Connect subscriptions.
What was the partnership that created the Substack Defender program?
In 2020, Substack partnered with leading first-amendment legal scholars and media defense firms to establish Substack Defender, an in-kind program providing up to $1 million in legal defense fees and pre-publication counseling to protect independent writers from frivolous lawsuits.
How did Substack partner with Stripe to power its global marketplace payouts?
Substack partnered deeply with Stripe, building on Stripe Connect to handle onboarding, KYC identity checks, chargeback management, and multi-currency payouts across over 100 countries, eliminating the need to acquire a payments company.
Did Substack ever explore merging with or acquiring a competitor like Ghost or Beehiiv?
Substack has maintained independence, avoiding consolidation with competitors. Management focuses on expanding its organic recommendation network and media formats (video and chat) rather than acquiring rival publishing tools.
What technology partnerships enable Substack's video podcasting features?
Substack partners with modern video streaming infrastructure providers (such as Mux) to encode, host, and deliver high-definition video podcasts and subscriber-exclusive video streams directly within its web and mobile apps.
How does Substack evaluate potential acqui-hires in artificial intelligence?
Substack evaluates tuck-in talent selectively, focusing on engineers skilled in recommendation graph algorithms, automated translation, voice synthesis, and spam/fraud detection to enhance author discoverability without replacing human writing.
What was the acquisition of people and talent from traditional journalism?
While not corporate M&A, Substack used its Substack Pro program like a talent acquisition agency, offering upfront advances to recruit premier journalistic talent away from legacy newspapers and magazines.
Did Substack acquire any web typography or design agencies?
Substack built its minimalist design internally with founder Jairaj Sethi and designer Alex Cornell, prioritizing lightning-fast reading speeds, classic serif typography, and distraction-free layouts.
What is Substack's future M&A outlook in the creator economy?
Substack is expected to remain disciplined in M&A, focusing on selective acqui-hires in mobile social networking, discovery graph algorithms, and cross-border payment integration to support its global publishing network.
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