Riffsy, maker of an iOS and Android GIF keyboard app, partnered with Vodafone Group and Millicom, as it looks to accelerate global growth and “build on its leadership as a ‘top five’ [utilities] app” in Apple and Google’s app stores.

Riffsy’s GIF catalogue will be available through the Vodafone Message+ Android app, available in 15 countries in Europe, Africa and Australasia.

The keyboard app will also be distributed across Tigo’s mobile channels, starting in Central America. Tigo is the principal brand under which Millicom offers its services.

“People are becoming addicted to GIF Keyboard as the best way of adding spirit, emotion and humour through this richer form of messaging and a new way of sharing experiences with each other,” said Omar Tellez, executive board advisor at Riffsy.

“We believe in the promise of a universal language to bridge cultures, and our app enables that in the mobile experience,” he added.

Customers use the keyboard ten times a day on average, Riffsy claimed, and more than half of GIF Keyboard’s users use the app five days a week, which has helped it to form partnerships with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Kik among others.

In August last year, the company raised $10 million in a Series A round, bringing total funds raised so far to $13.5 million.