The two founders of Instagram have quit and are leaving the Facebook-owned company after reportedly clashing with Mark Zuckerberg over the future direction of the popular photo app.

There has been reported tension between Zuckerberg and Instagram creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger for some time, with the pair resigning and due to leave the company in a few weeks. Their statements claim they remain excited for the future of Instagram, but according to Bloomberg, the pair were frustrated with the increasing involvement of Zuckerberg in the company’s day-to-day running.

In a statement, Systrom said:

Mike and I are grateful for the last eight years at Instagram and six years with the Facebook team. We’ve grown from 13 people to over 1,000, with offices around the world, all while building products used and loved by a community of over one billion. 

The pair claim they are “ready for [their] next chapter,” and alluded to the possibility of creating something new in saying that they aimed to “explore [their] curiosity and creativity again.”

Facebook purchased Instagram back in 2012 for $1 billion. Back then, the platform had 30 million users, in comparison to the 1 billion people who use the app monthly now. Whether Instagram will become more like Facebook now that its creators are no longer around remains to be seen.

Lead image credit Katka Pavlickova on Unsplash.