China’s most talked about unicorn in the current times — the APUS Group, has acquired photo-curation platform Siftr Labs for an undisclosed amount.With the acquisition, investor Venture Catalysts has delisted Siftr from its investment portfolio, associated with the platform since January 2016.
Founded in 2015 by veterans from Adobe, Qualcomm, and Samsung Romil Mittal and Mayank Bhagya, Siftr Labs deploys artificial intelligence and deep learning skills within its product. The app automatically sorts user photos according to their needs and hence assists them in managing their photography. Back in January 2016, the company secured funds worth $150,000 from early stage fund Venture Catalysts presenting an exciting domain to invest in.
The capabilities of the app ‘Siftr Magic’ includes object identification, facial recognition, age and gender detection, as well as perceiving photo genres with precision.The product became viral majorly due to expertise guidance received by the Siftr team from Venture Catalysts mentors and market leaders.
On being acquired by APUS Group, Romil Mittal, Co-founder and CEO, Siftr Labs, said,
Our global elevation has given us an opportunity to keep doing the same on a much larger scale and at a faster pace. We would like to thank APUS Group for identifying our potential as well as to the entire team at Venture Catalysts, without whose valuable contributions this could not have been possible.
The acquisition will help the image analysis company to grow vertically by tapping the extensive global experience of the premier unicorn. The business venture promises to unlock new horizons and revolutionise the digital industry with its future products. This deal has also hinted towards continued interest of global players in building their arsenal of machine learning technologies and has marked the beginning of sustained Chinese tech acquisitions on Indian soil.
Moreover, APUS Group previously stated its plans to invest around Rs. 300 crores in early stage Indian startups with an aim to create hundreds of jobs in the coming years.APUS Group has been active in India for quite some time. It has already invested in iamWire and has a long-term partnership with InMobi. It is also looking to establish more partnerships to achieve its goal of a widespread user base in the country. It is currently looking at providing more localised service and experience to users and augments India-specific content to appeal the target audience.
Expressing his vision for the company, Mr Vishal Maheswari, Chief Mentor Analyst, Venture Catalysts said,
It is the energy and willingness to push the envelope of excellence that has helped the team find favour with the APUS Group as well. I’m certain that the acquisition will help them to take the product to the next level and fulfill its true potential.
