acquisition – Tech News

Affinity’s image-editing apps go “freemium” in first major post-Canva update

When graphic design platform-provider Canva bought the Affinity image-editing and publishing apps early last year, we had some major questions about how the companies’ priorities and products would mesh. This week, Canva gave us definitive answers to all of those questions: a brand-new unified Affinity app that melds the Photo, Designer, and Publisher apps into a single piece of software called “Affinity by Canva” that is free to use with a Canva user account, but which gates generative AI features behind Canva’s existing paid subscription plans ($120 a year for individuals).
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/canvas-new-affinity-app-is-free-to-use-but-locks-ai-features-behind-a-subscription/

Vimeo to be acquired by Bending Spoons in $1.38B all-cash deal

Founded in 2004, Vimeo spun off from IAC (InterActiveCorp) in 2021, becoming an independent, publicly traded company. Since then, the company has lost almost 90% of its market value, prompting leadership to consider strategic options, according to Bloomberg. Bending Spoons has a pattern of acquiring companies, then laying off staff and cutting features. For example, Bending Spoons acquired note-taking and task management app Evernote in 2022, after which the company laid off most of its U.S. and Chile staff and moved operations to Europe in 2023. Evernote then shut down the Linux and older legacy versions of the app, and then proceeded to place heavy restrictions on the app’s free tier in 2024.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/10/vimeo-to-be-acquired-by-bending-spoons-in-1-38b-all-cash-deal/

The Browser Company, maker of Arc and Dia, is being acquired

Mike Cannon-Brookes, the CEO of enterprise software giant Atlassian, was one of the first users of the Arc browser. Over the last several years, he has been a prolific bug reporter and feature requester. Now he’ll own the thing: Atlassian is acquiring The Browser Company, the New York-based startup that makes both Arc and the new AI-focused Dia browser. Atlassian is paying $610 million in cash for The Browser Company, and plans to run it as an independent entity.
https://www.theverge.com/web/770947/browser-company-arc-dia-acquired-atlassian

Humane’s AI Pin is dead, as HP buys startup’s assets for $116M

Humane announced on Tuesday that most of its assets have been acquired by HP for $116 million. The hardware startup is immediately discontinuing sales of its $499 AI Pins. Humane alerted customers who have already purchased the Pin that their devices will stop functioning before the end of the month — at 12 p.m. PST on February 28, 2025, according to a blog post. The news brings an end to the short-lived, buzzy hardware startup. Humane made a splash in April 2024 by launching its AI Pin, which it positioned as a smartphone replacement. The Bay Area startup, founded by ex-Apple employees Bethany Bongiorno and Imran Chaudhri, raised more than $230 million to create the device.
https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/18/humanes-ai-pin-is-dead-as-hp-buys-startups-assets-for-116m/

Linktree acquires social media scheduler tool Plann

Link-in-bio platform Linktree announced Thursday that it has acquired social media scheduling tool Plann for an undisclosed amount. While Sydney, Australia-headquartered Plann will continue to operate as usual for now, Linktree is set to integrate its social scheduling tool into its platform in the coming months. This means that users will soon have access to features like social media planning and auto-posting for platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Lin
https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/15/linktree-acquires-plann-social-media-scheduling-tool/

BeReal is being acquired by mobile apps and games company Voodoo for €500M

Voodoo, a French mobile apps and games publisher, has acquired BeReal for €500 million. As part of the acquisition, BeReal co-founder and CEO Alexis Barreyat will leave the company after a transition period. Aymeric Roffé, the CEO of Wizz, one of Voodoo’s social media apps, will take over as BeReal’s CEO.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/06/11/bereal-is-being-acquired-by-mobile-apps-and-games-company-voodoo-for-e500m/

Adobe abandons $20 billion acquisition of Figma

Following mounting pressure from regulators in the UK and EU, Adobe and Figma announced on Monday that both companies are mutually terminating their merger agreement, which would have seen Adobe acquire the Figma product design platform for $20 billion. “It’s not the outcome we had hoped for,” said Figma CEO Dylan Field in a statement. “But despite thousands of hours spent with regulators around the world detailing differences between our businesses, our products, and the markets we serve, we no longer see a path toward regulatory approval of the deal.”
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/18/24005996/adobe-figma-acquisition-abandoned-termination-fee