Popular messaging app Snapchat recently acquired Israeli startup Cimagine, a firm that working on an augmented reality platform that allows users to instantly visualize products that they are planning to buy.

Snapchat did not publicly disclose the financial details of the acquisition, although some analysts claimed the messaging app paid between $30 million and $40 million.

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Based on its official LinkedIn page, Cimagine is working with brands like Jerome's, Shop Direct, and Coca-Cola. The company has a cloud-based mobile platform, which helps its partners to develop interactive augmented reality experiences that can boost online hype and in-store sales.

Snapchat is yet to confirm what will be Cimagine's role in its current development. According to Tech Crunch, apart from acquiring tech assets of Cimagine, Snapchat is eyeing the talent behind the firm. Cimagine's four co-founders' Ozi Egri, Nir Daube, Amiram Avraham, and Yoni Nevo are all specialists when it comes to the fields of image processing and computer vision.

The takeover also opened the possibility of Snapchat creating a development center in Israel. With the acquisition, Cimagine is expected to boost its workforce, which is currently composed of 20 employees.

Reports claimed that Snapchat is planning for an IPO in March 2017. According to Fortune, if this effort pushes through, analysts are expecting the company's value to grow between $20 billion and $25 billion. All throughout this year, Snapchat had quietly acquired several startup firms including ad company Flite, mobile search app Vurb, computer vision firm Seene, and emoji maker Bitstrips.

Tagssnapchat, Augmented Reality, cimagine, snapchat acquisition, cimagine news, SnapChat News