All posts tagged: acquired

Anthropic has acquired the dev tools startup used by OpenAI, Google, and Cloudflare

Anthropic has acquired the dev tools startup used by OpenAI, Google, and Cloudflare

Published by skeptic

Anthropic announced Monday it has acquired Stainless, a startup founded by former Stripe engineer Alex Rattray whose software is widely used by rival AI labs, including OpenAI and Google. Anthropic didn’t disclose terms of the deal. However, The Information reported last week that the company was in talks to acquire Stainless, which is backed by Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz, for more than $300 million. The acquisition will take a key infrastructure supplier out of the hands of Anthropic’s competitors. The company told TechCrunch it will wind down all hosted Stainless products, including its SDK generator. An Anthropic spokesperson said Stainless customers will still own the SDKs they’ve generated to date and have full rights to modify and extend them however they wish. The New York-based startup, founded in 2022, rose to prominence in the emerging AI industry for automating the creation and maintenance of software development kits, or SDKs — the libraries developers use to interact with APIs. Rattray developed software that could take API specifications and turn them into production-ready SDKs across multiple …

Everlane — clothing company prided on sustainability — reportedly acquired by Shein

Everlane — clothing company prided on sustainability — reportedly acquired by Shein

Published by Daniella Wilson

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Fast-fashion company Shein is reportedly set to take over Everlane, an apparel brand known for its high-quality fabric and radical transparency. According to a Sunday report shared by Puck News, Everlane is being sold to Shein by the sustainable fashion brand’s majority owner, L Catterton, for $100 million. Sources told the publication that the deal was approved Saturday. Any holders of Everlane’s common stock are not expected to receive a payout. Specific details of the deal, including whether preferred shareholders would be compensated in cash or shares of Shein, remain unclear. The Independent has contacted Shein and L Catterton for comment. According to Puck News, Everlane has reportedly been carrying around $90 million in debt, with CEO Alfred Chang said to have been seeking investors to help manage it as recently as March. The $100 million purchase comes amid …

Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton Album Acquired by Bodleian Libraries

Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton Album Acquired by Bodleian Libraries

Published by José Betancourt

An annotated photographic scrapbook—often called a “daybook”—featuring newspaper clippings and hundreds of photos by Lee Miller and Cecil Beaton has been acquired by the Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford. The album was compiled by British Vogue darkroom assistant Roland Haupt between 1943 and ’49; Haupt developed film by both Miller and Beaton when they worked for Vogue magazine during this time period. The deal was brokered by the London-based photography dealer Michael Hoppen, who was approached about nine months ago by Haupt’s descendants. (Haupt died in the mid-1960s.) Hoppen declined to share the sales price with ARTnews, explaining that the family preferred that their identity and the details of the sale remain private for the time being. Below are spreads from the album, showing photographs by both Miller and Beaton, war-related and otherwise, as well as related newspaper clippings. “My Favorite Photographer” Image Credit: Courtesy Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford Haupt dedicates the book to Miller, who he tenderly refers to as “my favorite photographer.” He writes this next to a portrait of …

Unacademy to be acquired by upGrad in share-swap deal as India’s edtech sector consolidates

Unacademy to be acquired by upGrad in share-swap deal as India’s edtech sector consolidates

Published by skeptic

Unacademy, once a one of India’s most valuable edtech startups, is set to be acquired by rival upGrad in an all-stock deal that would bring together two major online learning platforms in the country. On Sunday, Unacademy co-founder and CEO Gaurav Munjal said in a post on X that the companies had signed a term sheet for upGrad to acquire Unacademy in a 100% share-swap deal, adding that the valuation would not be disclosed until the transaction closes. The announcement comes more than three months after Munjal said that Unacademy’s valuation had dropped below $500 million — down roughly 85% from its pandemic-era peak of $3.5 billion in 2021. India’s once-booming edtech sector has struggled since pandemic-era lockdowns eased, as students returned to classrooms and demand for online test prep and learning platforms cooled. Companies including Unacademy, which expanded aggressively during the pandemic, have since cut costs, scaled back offline ambitions, and refocused on core digital products. In a separate post, upGrad co-founder Ronnie Screwvala said Munjal will continue leading Unacademy after the acquisition, adding …

How Iran secretly acquired facial recognition technology through a Russian company

How Iran secretly acquired facial recognition technology through a Russian company

Published by Sam Flores

In Tehran and several other cities across the country, jubilant crowds celebrated the death of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader. While these spontaneous gatherings were largely ignored by the cameras of Iran’s state-run media, they likely did not escape the gaze of surveillance cameras. Now facing an uncertain future due to significant strategic losses caused by American and Israeli strikes, the regime owes its longevity to a vast surveillance and repression apparatus. Statements from Iranian officials and leaked documents have shown in recent years that authorities took an interest in facial recognition technology. It was unclear, until now, whether they had actually acquired it. Based on documents from Iranian and Russian companies, an investigation revealed that the regime and several affiliated entities acquired a cutting-edge facial recognition software, developed by a Russian company under Western sanctions, beginning in 2020 and 2021. This investigation was coordinated by Forbidden Stories and its partners Le Monde, Papertrail Media, Der Spiegel and ZDF, in collaboration with The Signals Network, an organization supporting whistleblowers. Read more Subscribers only Iran’s regime …

Norman Rockwell Painting Acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago

Norman Rockwell Painting Acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago

Published by Jenni Sidey

On Tuesday, the Art Institute of Chicago announced its acquisition of a study for The Dugout (1948) by Norman Rockwell. Donated by former governor of Illinois Bruce Rauner and Diana Rauner, it will be the first work by that artist in the museum’s collection. A popular painter of American everyday life, Rockwell (1894–1978) is most famous for his cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post magazine, which published over 300 of his artworks between 1916 and 1963. This oil study depicts unhappy members of the Chicago Cubs following Chicago’s loss to the Boston Braves on May 23, 1948. Related Articles The finished painting (a watercolor) was reproduced on the cover of the Post that September. When it appeared in print, it sealed the reputation of the team—who finished the season at the bottom of the National League—as “lovable losers.” Rockwell regularly took reference photographs of his subjects before starting work; for The Dugout, Cubs pitcher Bob Rush, manager Charlie Grimm, catcher Al “Rube” Walker, and pitcher Johnny Schmitz all posed for him. The batboy was …

Merkur Group has acquired a ‘significant stake’ in ETG developer Spintec

Merkur Group has acquired a ‘significant stake’ in ETG developer Spintec

Published by skeptic

Merkur Group has expanded its partnership with electronic table game developer Spintec to acquire a “significant stake” in the company. After initially investing back in 2019, Merkur Group has now acquired what it describes as “a significant stake” in Slovenia-based developer and of electronic table games (ETGs) Spintec d.o.o. “Spintec is a highly innovative and successful ETG specialist, distinguished above all by outstanding quality and a strong global footprint,” said Dominik Raasch, Management Board Member, Merkur Games in a press statement. “This investment is a real asset for the Merkur Group and an important driver of our international growth strategy.” The goal of Merkur’s continued investment The investment partnership so far has combined Spintec’s technology in gaming and Merkur’s distribution via its international network, having recently expanded its foothold in the US. Having highlighted those elements in the announcement, it seems that Merkur plans to take Spintec’s ETGs further around the world via this expanded investment. “Our collaboration creates valuable synergies that enable us to bring these high-quality ETG solutions to a significantly broader audience,” …