Beauty and make-up company Il Makiage has today announced the acquisition of Israeli deep-tech AI-based computational imaging startup Voyage81 for $40 million.
Il Makiage said that its acquisition will enable it to use Voyage81's patented Hyperspectral Imaging Systems to further enhance the company's machine learning capabilities and aligns with Il Makiage's commitment to continue innovating and revolutionizing the beauty and wellness industries at-large. Il Makiage added that it also sets the stage for it planned new brand launches within the beauty and wellness domains. The acquisition is the company's second technology acquisition in the last 24 months.
Voyage81 has developed patented software that brings hyperspectral imaging capabilities to smartphones. Voyage81's software extracts over 30 channels of hyperspectral information from RGB images taken with existing smartphone cameras. Voyage81 is also developing in tandem with some of the largest global smartphone manufacturers a hardware-based solution that builds on the company's hyperspectral software to significantly enhance photos taken in low-light conditions.
Il Makiage CEO Oran Holtzman said, "For the past two years, we have been searching for computational imaging solutions that can work in beauty and wellness to further advance our existing AI capabilities. I have met dozens of computer vision startups but could not find a technology that can fit our industry and was strong enough to fulfill our goals. Bringing on Voyage81's patented technology and exceptional team to our tech and data science departments is a huge win for our company's future, our users, and the industry at-large."
Voyage81's software is capable of mapping and analyzing skin and hair features, detecting facial blood flows, and creating melanin and hemoglobin maps from a simple smartphone camera photo. The technology, combined with Il Makiage's AI algorithms, will enable leveraging users' personal smartphone cameras to provide online matching capabilities to users of Il Makiage and its upcoming homegrown digital beauty and wellness brands.
Voyage81 was founded in 2019 by CEO Niv Price, former head of R&D at the IDF's elite technological unit 81, CTO Dr. Boaz Arad, Dr. Rafi Gidron, and software lead Omer Shwartz.
Dr. Arad said, "Combining Voyage81's physics-based algorithms with Il Makiage's existing data science team and utilizing the company's one billion+ data points and unprecedented daily incoming data flow, will further boost our AI vision capabilities. Thus, I strongly believe that together we can conquer the next frontier in the beauty and wellness industries - creating a technological advantage that will be next to impossible to match."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on August 12, 2021
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