Facebook Acquires Neural Wristband Startup Ctrl-labs for $1 Billion
Facebook buys Ctrl-labs, a startup building a wristband that translates neuromuscular signals into digital commands, to boost its augmented and virtual reality efforts. The deal reportedly costs around $1 billion and brings the team into Facebook Reality Labs.
Facebook announces its intention to acquire Ctrl-labs, a New York-based startup that develops a wristband capable of translating neuromuscular signals into machine-interpretable commands. Although the exact terms remain undisclosed, reports value the deal at approximately $1 billion, and Facebook plans to integrate the startup directly into its Reality Labs division to advance its augmented and virtual reality technologies.
Ctrl-labs CEO and co-founder Thomas Reardon, along with other opting employees, joins Facebook as part of this transaction. Prior to this acquisition, the startup raises $67 million from major investors like GV, Amazon's Alexa Fund, and Lux Capital while actively purchasing patents related to the Myo wearable to establish an industry standard for surface EMG control.
Facebook AR/VR VP Andrew Bosworth states that this acquisition helps the company build more natural and intuitive ways for people to interact with technology. By combining Ctrl-labs' innovative neuroscience-based developer kit with Facebook's massive resources, the social media giant aims to scale this brain-machine interface technology and bring consumer products to market much faster.