Liga.net website announced that Snap company, which developed Snapchat, started acquisition of a startup Teleport Future Technologies, Inc. The transaction amount is $8 million. The project became famous due to its Teleport app which allows to realistically change your hair color on selfies. Teleport first became popular in summer 2017. Currently the company has a total of 7 applications: 5 apps for Android and 2 for iOS.
Teleport Future Technologies, Inc., a US registered company, has Ukrainian roots. Vladislav Urazov, 20 years old, who is the CEO of the company and a co-founder of the project, comes from Ukraine. He grew up in Odesa and currently lives in Moscow. There are even more Ukrainians in the development team. The mentor of the project is Victor Koch. In 2017 Teleport raised $1 million in order to use the money for further expansion into the US and Asian markets. During an interview with a Russian media Inc. Koch said that there also were ongoing negotiations about merging with Chinese company Meitu and Rakuten from Japan.
Urazov did confirm that a part of the Teleport development team works in Snap offices in the US/UK now. In the meantime, he together with his partners is going to launch a fund for investments in AI startups in the near future. As a result of the acquisition Urazov became a dollar millionaire.
Let us recall that earlier AIN.UA announced that Snap became a resident of Kyiv-based innovation park UNIT.city.
