Snap has reportedly made an investment in augmented reality, purchasing the Israeli-based startup Cimagine Media in a deal that’s said to be worth between $30 million to $40 million.
Originally reported by Calcalist News, through this purchase, Snap will establish a development center in the Middle East, one where it will eventually employ more than the 20 people currently working at Cimagine Media.
Founded four years ago, Cimagine specializes in computer vision, real-time image processing, mobile development, international marketing, and more. All of these are obviously compelling for Snap, whose app Snapchat is heavily reliant on augmented reality and the like. But what Cimagine brings to the table is a focus on commerce and as Snap looks towards going public perhaps some time next year, it’s quite possible that doing facilitating shopping through Snapchat might open up additional revenue opportunities.
Cimagine already has partnerships with Shop Direct, John Lewis, and Coca-Cola and wants to help retailers tap into the potential of augmented reality. So Snap may want to eventually strike partnerships with big box retailers and department stores to accelerate engagement and time spent on site. Merchants and store owners may want additional advertising opportunities so the potential of what Cimagine’s technology and team could bring to bear may be enticing.
Or perhaps Cimagine’s team will help Snap improve laying objects over photos and videos captured through Snapchat.
Should an IPO be in its future, Snap needs to remain one step ahead of Facebook which has been rapidly copying features from Snapchat. Investors are looking for real market leadership so Snap’s acquisition of camera technology, especially around augmented reality, could give it a bit of a leg up.
Prior to its acquisition, Cimagine raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Explore.Dream.Discover, iVentures Asia Ltd., OurCrowd, and PLUS Ventures. This would be the second acquisition this month made by Snap — it also purchased Flite to integrate its ad technology into its offering. In fact, this year has been a busy one for the ephemeral camera technology company as it has made a total of four known buys, including the $110 million deal for Vurb, snatching up Obvious Engineering (also known as Seene), and dishing out $100 million for Bitstrips.
Although the deal was reported by Calcalist News, no official word has been released — to be honest, Snap tends to be secretive about its acquisitions until it absolutely can’t. We’ve reached out to Snap and Cimagine Media anyways and will update if we hear back.
Source: Snap reportedly acquired augmented reality startup Cimagine Media for up to $40 million
