INFLUASIA acquires In Real Life Media

From left: Gabriel Gan Content Writer & Editor of In Real Life Malaysia, Chris Khristie, Co-founder of INFLUASIA, Michelle Tan, Co-founder of INFLUASIA, and Vhysh Raj, Head of Content of WORLD OF BUZZ.

The Malaysian award-winning digital media group, INFLUASIA acquired the digital publishing platform, In Real Life Malaysia (IRL), yesterday. The budding platform takes pride in being Malaysia’s first personal experience platform, focusing on sharing personalised stories from everyday Malaysians. 

“Unlike other platforms out there, In Real Life dives deep into the lives of Malaysians,” said co-founder of INFLUASIA, Chris Khristie. “The platform allows anyone to share their personal stories and inspire others through their life experiences across different topics.”

INFLUASIA group’s existing publications currently have secured over 40 million pageviews and over 10 million unique individuals monthly. Collectively, the brand reaches across 2.1 million followers nationwide through its multitude of publications including WORLD OF BUZZ, Lobak Merah and NOODOU.

The company will also be focusing on BUZZER, its own influencer marketing agency providing 3,600 talent and influencer marketing solutions with an extensive database of over 49,000 local influencers. 

Chris also added that the acquisition of IRL happened because they shared the same objective of conveying community-centric messages. “We believe that this merger is fitting to our mutual vision of encouraging more people to share their personal stories.” she said.  

The founder of IRL, Rachel Tan said the acquisition will enable the platform to access wider resources in order to achieve their goal that prioritises stories of the community. 

“I built In Real Life because everyone has a story to tell and I believe that we can all learn something from one another,” Rachel said. “Through IRL, you can share them with us, write your own story and get inspired by each other.” 

According to Rachel, in less than two years, IRL has reached over 2 million Malaysians and with the growth of the team and additional resources, she believes more people will be heard through their stories. 

The IRL team will be managed by the INFLUASIA founders, with Rachel appointed as the consultative partner during the handover process. 

INFLUASIA plans to strengthen its portfolio through further acquisitions of relevant publications and by building up niche platforms to cater to different sets of audiences, as they aim to become the largest digital media group in Malaysia. 

The company will also be launching its interactive content-based app by the end of this year to further complement this mission.