Bitstrips

Pioneered personalized avatar and comic creation; rebranded as Bitmoji, now the dominant personalized sticker and avatar platform globally under Snap Inc.

Bitstrips was founded in Toronto, Canada, and gained viral popularity for its web and mobile app that allowed users to create personalized cartoon avatars and comic strips featuring themselves and their friends. The platform attracted tens of millions of users globally, becoming a cultural phenomenon particularly on social media, where users shared their comic-strip-style self-representations across Facebook, Twitter, and other networks. In March 2016, Snap Inc. (then Snapchat) acquired Bitstrips for approximately $64 million, recognizing the strategic value of personalized avatar technology for its rapidly growing social platform. Following the acquisition, Bitstrips was rebranded as Bitmoji, and the technology was deeply integrated into Snapchat's core experience. Bitmoji avatars became a signature feature of Snapchat, enabling users to express themselves through personalized stickers, Snaps, and augmented reality lenses. Today, Bitmoji — the direct successor to Bitstrips — operates as one of the most widely used avatar platforms in the world, with hundreds of millions of users. The Bitmoji keyboard is available across iOS and Android and integrates with platforms beyond Snapchat, including iMessage and Gboard. The technology underpins Snap's broader identity and self-expression ecosystem, including Snap's 3D Bitmoji avatars and AR experiences, cementing the legacy of Bitstrips as foundational to modern digital self-expression.