Snap has acquired British artificial intelligence startup Ariel AI, a specialist computer vision company cofounded by ex-Facebook and Google scientists.
Insider uncovered the acquisition after analyzing Ariel AI's publicly available UK financial filings, which show Snap CEO Evan Spiegel and CTO Bobby Murphy became majority shareholders in the startup in September 2020.
Snap confirmed the deal to Insider.
According to financial filings, Ariel AI was incorporated in November 2018.
Its three cofounders are CEO Iasonas Kokkinos, formerly a research scientist at Facebook and academic at the University College London; research and development chief Riza Alp Guler, also a post-doctoral researcher at Imperial College London; and CTO George Papandreou, formerly a senior research scientist at Google. Non-executive director Ernesto Schmitt was previously a cofounder of Fabula AI, which sold to Twitter in June 2019.
According to its website, Ariel AI's technology is capable of rendering a 3D model of a human on-screen in real time as they are viewed through a smartphone camera. The company names clothing try-ons, sports analytics, and immersive gaming as potential use cases, though doesn't appear to have commercialized its technology.
Insider understands that the 12-strong Ariel AI team of engineers joined Snap's London-based computer vision team at the end of 2020. The team is using its computer vision skills to make Snapchat's camera smarter by "understanding"geometry, semantics, and what's in the field of view, improving the app's augmented reality experiences.
It isn't clear how much Snap paid for the startup, though it is likely to be in the single-digit millions. An SEC filing dated March 2020 indicates the startup had raised a total of $1.1 million.
Given Snapchat is a pioneer in augmented reality and computer vision, it is little surprise the company is rounding out its tech talent. Other artificial intelligence-focused acquisitions by Snap include Voca.ai and AIFactory. Insider reported in 2018 that Snap had been in talks to acquire UK augmented reality startup Blippar, but that the company walked away from the deal.
Ariel AI was at least the second UK startup acquired by Snap in 2020. Insider reported in November 2020 that Snap had also snapped up music app Voisey, a TikTok-like service for uncovering up-and-coming artists.
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