24.9.16

Apple buys Tuplejump

Apple quietly acquired a little-known Hyderabad-based startup a few months ago for an undisclosed amount and while little is known about what Tuplejump does, the word is that this is part of the Cupertino-based giant's exploration into artificial intelligence. Known in the trade as an acqui-hire, nearly all of Tuplejump's 16 employees are in the process of becoming Apple staffers. A back-of-the-envelope calculation by an expert put the valuation at about $20 million (Rs.27 crore).
Tuplejump is Apple's first acquisition in India. Including this, the iPhone-maker has bought three artificial intelligence companies this year, the others being Turi and Emotient. Apple's AI-based assistant Siri is facing increasing competition from similar services out of Google, Amazon and Microsoft.
Apple did not give any details on the Tuplejump acquisition, only saying, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.“ TechCrunch first reported the news. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook had visited Hyderabad in May, shortly after the Tuplejump acquisition, to inaugurate his company's first development centre in the country. During his first official visit to India, Cook also announced plans to set up a design and development startup accelerator in Bengaluru and open retail outlets in the country. While iPhone purchases have increased in India, globally Apple is struggling with slowing sales.
Tuplejump was founded in 2013 by Rohit Rai, Satyaprakash Buddhavarapu and Deepak Alur. While Rai and Buddhavarapu relocated to Apple's office in Silicon Valley in May, Alur joined Premji Invest-backed Anaplan as engineering head. Rai and Buddhavarapu were equal partners in Tuplejump as of March 31, 2015.
The bootstrapped company reported a profit of Rs.80,000 in 2014-15 on revenue of about Rs.70 lakh, according the company's annual report.

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