Google is reportedly planning to purchase imaging startup Lytro in a deal estimated to be worth between $25 and $40 million.
Founded in 2006, Lytro is behind a series of cameras, which allow customers to capture “all the rays of light within a scene” giving them the ability to refocus shots after they were taken and offered “unprecedented control over focus, perspective, aperture and shutter angle.”
One source described the deal as an “asset sale” to TechCrunch, in which not all of the company’s employees will be joining Google (GOOGL) after the transaction is complete. Several employees have reportedly already received severance and parted ways with the company.
Lytro has raised over $200 million since its launch and was valued at $360 million after its last round of investment in 2017. Thus, a sale at the reported rate would suggest Google is getting the company for a significant discount.
The company is backed by a number of high-profile investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Foxconn, GV, Greylock, and Qualcomm Ventures.
