It’s of no surprise that the established technology company always targets startups with proven products. Especially in the recent past, tech giants like Google, Apple are trying to integrate machine learning into their products by acquiring suitable AI startups.
Since 2013, the search engine giant Google made some serious acquisitions with diverse geographical distribution. Unlike other companies, Google has so far acquired smaller teams with an intent to boost an established product line. As we move forward, we can expect Google and other tech giants to accelerate the pace of startup acquisitions.
Today, we have listed out 10 interesting startups that have been acquired by Google over the years, according to dealroom.co.
AIMatter (Belarus)
Acquired: 2017
Founder: Yuri Gurski
Funding: NA
The startup behind the Fabby app was acquired a couple of years back by the search engine giant. AIMatter specializes in building next-gen apps with proprietary advanced image processing technologies. Its SDK is able to run deep learning models in real time directly on smartphones. With this acquisition, Google is making the most out of by using their skills across the AI spectrum.
Limes Audio (Sweden)
Acquired: 2017
Founders: Christian Schüldt, Fredric Lindstrom
Funding: € 3.7M
Limes Audio specialises in audio signal processing for speech enhancement and developed technology that makes speakerphones sound better by removing disturbing echoes and noise. The company aims to deliver natural and crystal clear speech without any echoes, noise, or glitches. Google acquired this company to improve its Hangouts and the enterprise-focused incarnation Chromebox for Meetings.
Channel Intelligence (Italy)
Acquired: 2013
Founders: Alan Fulmer, Rob Wight, Taj Adhav
Funding: € 8.2M
Channel Intelligence develops technology that connects shoppers with retailers through its brand website and digital media. Google acquired this company to enhance its business in e-commerce and providing a portal for users to search and find things to buy alongside ads for those products.
Moodstocks (France)
Acquired: 2016
Founders: Cedric Deltheil, Denis Brule
Funding: € 450K
Moodstocks provides an API and ready-to-use cross-platform SDK for developers to integrate scanning. The company has been around since 2008, working around the basic premise of improving image recognition via mobile devices.
Google Deepmind (UK)
Acquired: 2014
Founders: Demis Hassabis, Mustafa Suleyman, Shane Legg
Funding: NA
DeepMind is the world leader in artificial intelligence research and aims to push the boundaries of AI, developing programs that can learn to solve any complex problem without needing to be taught how. They build general-purpose algorithms for use in simulations, e-commerce applications, and games.
Zynamics (Germany)
Acquired: 2011
Founder: Thomas Dullien
Zynamics is a security analytics software company providing software analysis tools to help with malware analysis. The company’s tools are used to help understand security updates, identify FOSS code in binaries and recognise flaws in closed-source software and build input to trigger them.
Drawelements (Finland)
Acquired: 2014
Founder: Petri Kero
drawElements technology allows developers to check whether the graphics meet the specifications on the wide range of Android devices.
ThriveAudio (Ireland)
Acquired: 2015
Founder: Prof Francis Boland
This is a company born out of the School of Engineering in Dublin’s Trinity College, specializing in positional audio. Their site does a great job of succinctly explaining their audio tech, which is designed to create realistic surround sound for VR.
Digisfera (Portugal)
Acquired: 2015
Founders: António Cabral and Manuel Cabral.
The company focuses mainly on photography, design, and development services for projects involving 360-degree images.
Sparrow (France)
Acquired: 2012
Founders: Dominique Leca, Viet Hoa DINH
Funding: €180K
Sparrow was an email client for OS X and iOS. Sparrow 1.0 has been officially launched on February the 8th 2011 on the Mac AppStore.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.
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