Snapchat to acquire Cimagine

Messaging app Snapchat is buying Israeli augmented reality start-up Cimagine media for an estimated $30-40 Million, making Snapchat first acquisition in Israel. Cimagine developed true marker less augmented reality technology that allows users to virtually place furniture and appliances they wish to purchase in the space of their home, on their mobile devices, at the click of a button.

Cimagine will become Snapchat research and development centre in Israel and is expected to rapidly expand its workforce from its current 20 employees. The company’s highly skilled team is probably the main reason for the acquisition, rather than its technology. The company was founded in 2012 and has raised a few million dollars. Venice, California based Snapchat is expected to go public as early as March with a valuation of as much as $25 Billion.

Cimagine specializes in computer vision, real-time image processing, mobile development, international marketing, and more. All of these are obviously compelling for Snap, whose app Snapchat is heavily reliant on augmented reality and the like. But what Cimagine brings to the table is a focus on commerce and as Snap looks towards going public perhaps some time next year, it’s quite possible that doing facilitating shopping through Snapchat might open up additional revenue opportunities.

Cimagine already has partnerships with Shop Direct, John Lewis, and Coca-Cola and wants to help retailers tap into the potential of augmented reality. So Snap may want to eventually strike partnerships with big box retailers and department stores to accelerate engagement and time spent on site. Merchants and store owners may want additional advertising opportunities so the potential of what Cimagine’s technology and team could bring to bear may be enticing.

Sun Pharma to acquire Novartis cancer drug Odomzo

India’s largest drug maker Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd has inked a pact with Switzerland based Novartis AG to acquire the latter branded cancer drug Odomzo for an upfront payment of $175 Million.

Under the agreement, Sun Pharma will get global marketing rights for the product and Novartis will receive certain additional milestone payments. Odomzo is a hedgehog pathway inhibitor indicated for the treatment of advanced basal cell carcinoma (BCC) that recurs following a surgery or a radiation therapy, or for patients who are not candidates for surgery or radiation therapy.

Non-melanoma skin cancer is the most common form of skin cancer globally. BCC accounts for approximately 80% of non-melanoma skin cancers, accounting for over 2 million cases in the US alone. BCC consists of abnormal, uncontrolled growths or lesions that arise in the skin’s basal cells, which line the outermost layer of the skin.

Odomzo has marketing approval in over 30 countries globally including the US, Europe and Australia. Odomzo was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in July 2015. Approximately, 70% of the prescribers are dermatologists and the rest are oncologists for this class of drug. Sun Pharma is making significant investments, organically as well as through acquisitions, to build a pipeline of branded products, specialty drugs and complex generics to boost growth.

ScoopWhoop Acquires Touchfone Technologies

Delhi based Internet media and news startup, ScoopWhoop Media has acquired Touchfone Technologies for an undisclosed amount in a cash and stock deal. The buyout is the first for the Kalaari Capital backed ScoopWhoop, which was founded in 2013.

Touchfone Technologies founded in 2010 and backed by Blume Ventures, enables video delivery and ad targeting across devices and networks. It counts Star, Asianet, Disney and Big Flix among its clients. Touchfone Technologies, video streaming product Strmeasy enables Video streaming services on 2G and Edge Speeds, which will help ScoopWhoop, target this market. In addition to video streaming services, the company will focus on improving personalization and brand revenue opportunities through targeted advertising.

Strmeasy is a video delivery platform that streams videos in low bandwidths. It offers end-to-end video solution which helps businesses manage and deliver videos with the highest quality irrespective of the device or network the user is on. With this acquisition of Strmeasy, ScoopWhoop will focus on boosting the advertising offerings, with the help of targeted video ads which have the highest Cost per Mile (CPM) rates in display advertising.

This development will also establish its presence in Bengaluru, in addition to the Delhi and Mumbai. Earlier in November 2015, ScoopWhoop had raised $4 Million, in a funding round, from Kalaari Capital. Other startups in the space include PopXO, MissMalini and LBB etc.

Cognizant to acquire Adaptra

Cognizant has entered into an agreement to acquire Australia based consulting, business transformation and service provider Adaptra, for an undisclosed sum. Sydney-headquartered Adaptra, established in 1998, works with five of the top 10 insurers in Australia and New Zealand.

Adaptra specializes in consulting, programme management and implementation of core platforms such as Guidewire to enable insurance companies to drive improvements across areas like underwriting and policy administration. The acquisition would further strengthen Cognizant insurance, business transformation and platform capabilities.

The acquisition (by Cognizant) would position Adaptra for new growth opportunities across technologies and industries. Cognizant’s global experience, deep digital capabilities and entrepreneurial culture will enable Adaptra to deliver broader transformational solutions. Cognizant has over 100 development centres, globally and employs about 2.25 lakh people.

Practo buys Enlightiks

Healthcare services platform Practo Technologies Pvt. Ltd, has acquired Enlightiks Business Solutions Pvt. Ltd, a healthcare analytics solutions firm, in a cash and stock deal.

Established in 2012, with offices in Bengaluru and Charlotte in the US, Enlightiks owns a predictive clinical and computational platform called Querent and uses big data analytics to provide business intelligence to healthcare providers. Last year, Practo acquired Insta Health Solutions and Qikwell Technologies Pvt. Ltd. With this portfolio of software products, it completes the suite for healthcare providers.

Practo has been among the most active buyers among large Indian start-ups. Apart from Enlightiks, Qikwell and Insta, it acquired FitHo, a fitness management platform and product outsourcing firm Genii. Its acquisitions, especially Qikwell and Insta, have not only helped the company enter the enterprise segment—hospitals and clinics—but also opened additional revenue streams for the company.

Enlightiks deploys machine learning and deep learning to service more than 250 hospitals and clinics, which predominantly use its business intelligence service, while some of the clients use predictive analytics to augment revenue and streamline operations. Practo currently claims to aggregate 2 lakh doctors, 10,000 hospitals, 8,000 diagnostic centres and 4,000 wellness and fitness centres in India, Brazil, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Baxter to acquire Claris Injectables

In one of the biggest deals involving a domestic pharma major, US based Baxter International Inc. entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Claris Injectables, a wholly owned subsidiary of Claris Lifesciences, for approximately $625 Million (Rs. 4,237 crore).

Claris Injectables will add proven capabilities in production of essential generic injectable medicines, such as anesthesia and analgesics, renal, anti-infective and critical care in a variety of presentations including bags, vials and ampoules. The Claris Injectables acquisition will expand Baxter’s presence in the fast growing, global generic injectable pharmaceuticals space and accelerate growth trajectory with high-value, essential medicines that will benefit patients worldwide.

The capabilities gained with Claris Injectables will augment and complement the company’s differentiated technologies, expertise and extensive presence in the hospital channel to create a pathway for Baxter to become a global leader in generic Injectables. In 2016, Claris Injectables is expected to deliver annual global revenues in excess of $100 million. Global revenues for Claris Injectables business have increased by double-digits annually over the last several years driven by new product launches and geographic expansion.

1mg acquires MediAngels

Online pharmacy and digital healthcare venture 1mg today acquired MediAngels, the platform for super specialty consultations and corporate healthcare. The terms of the deal were undisclosed. This is the second acquisition for 1mg this year, in July, the Sequoia backed company acquired Medd, a diagnostics and imaging tests marketplace.

Earlier this year, 1mg had raised its Series B funding of Rs 100 crore in a round led by Maverick Capital Ventures and additional funding from HBM Healthcare Investments. MediAngels was meant to bring topmost super specialist doctors with everyone reach using technology. With more than 450 super specialist doctors across 93 specialists, MediAngels has seen several cases in cardiology, cancers, neurosurgery, orthopedics and pediatrics subspecialties, witnessing traction from both metros and tier II cities.

MediAngels was used extensively by enterprises for second opinions for auditing and understanding healthcare needs. A recent collaborative study by MediAngels and a major private health insurer for knee replacement surgeries across India found that 18 percent of the knee replacements were either not needed or could have been dealt with before surgery became the only option left. In such cases, the patient is happy avoiding the pain of surgery and the enterprise as a payer saves money. The company already has the backing of most top insurers and several corporates, who have enrolled for the service for second opinions and employee health benefits.

With its entry into the online doctor consultations, e-pharmacy and diagnostics space, 1mg will now have to compete with a mix of different players, one of the prominent ones being Sequoia-backed Practo. The e-pharmacy space is already crowded with players like Netmeds, mChemist, Medd, DeliMedi, CareOnGo and MediDali. With its acquisition of Medd, the team forayed into the diagnostics segment, and now, with MediAngels, the team is aggressively looking to push into the B2B segment with players like Health Assure and MAR Plus.

Delivery Hero acquires Foodpanda

Berlin based online Food takeaway service Delivery Hero, one of Europe’s biggest start-ups will acquire competitor Foodpanda, a sign further consolidation to fend of new competition in Europe’s sought after food delivery business. The acquisition brings together two top food delivery startups based in Germany.

After this acquisition, the combined group is expected to process over 20 Million orders per month across 47 countries. Delivery Hero currently serves across 33 countries and Foodpanda in 22 countries. With this deal, Rocket Internet stake in Delivery Hero will grow up to 37.7%. The acquisition of Foodpanda will enable Delivery Hero to consolidate its market leadership in the Middle East and add 20 new countries in Eastern Europe, MENA and Asia.

Delivery Hero, which was most recently valued at $3.1 Billion and competes directly with publicly listed Just Eat, along with newer premium entrants such as Deliveroo, Uber Eats & Amazon. Delivery Hero and Foodpanda are both backed by German ecommerce firm Rocket Internet, which has invested 800 million euros in Delivery Hero last year and put 300 million euros into Foodpanda which focuses on deliveries in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. 

Foodpanda has built a fantastic position and service offering some of the largest food delivery markets globally. In November end, the company had announced the participation of Sunny Leone in their digital marketing campaign. The company had said that the campaign is going to target consumers through different Social Media platforms like Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram etc. 

Next Education buys Xolvr

Next Education, a Hyderabad based learning solutions provider for K-12 students, has acqui-hired Gurugram based education technology startup Xolvr. This is the company’s third acquisition in the past 12 months.

Xolvr connects students from grades six to 12 with undergraduate IIT students, who don the hat of a tutor and help them with students such as Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science among others, through video conferencing and using a shared whiteboard. This acqui-hire will add a new element to LearnNext by offering students with a platform to access over 50 tutors.

The move, which is aimed at adding a human element to the product, will be launched in July next year. Students who subscribe to LearnNext will have the option of taking one-to-one sessions with tutors on the platform. Next Education previously acquired the robotics lab programme RoboLAB from ThinkLABS and InOpen Technologies, which gives the company access to their computer science product.