Snap acquires Ukrainian startup, AI Factory

GaryPageau

Snapchat Cameos

Snap Inc. has acquired AI Factory, a Ukrainian imaging startup, for $166 million, according to AIN.UA.  Details weren’t disclosed, but AI Factory is headed by Victor Shaburov, Snap’s former director of engineering from April, 2015, to May, 2018, after Snap purchased Shaburov’s Looksery startup in 2015. Looksery was behind Snap’s popular Lenses feature.

According to the AIN.UA report, Snap Inc. already owned a stake in AI Factory, and this deal was aimed at buying out stakes of other investors. The company’s total valuation at the time of the deal was about $200 million.  It has three offices: in San Francisco, Kyiv, and Zaporizhzhia. and employs 70 people.

According to reports, AI Factory had provided the technology behind Snap’s new Cameo AI video feature, which launched in December, to

 

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Gary Pageau is principal of InfoCircle LLC, continuing his marketing communications career. InfoCircle LLC is a marketing and communications consulting firm, specializing in business-to-business markets. For nearly 25 years, he was with PMA International, serving most recently as Publisher, Content Development and Strategic Initiatives. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the Association’s editorial department, marketing research unit, education and corporate relations department.