<article>Sydney-based technology firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Appen%20Ltd">Appen Ltd</a> announced that it is acquiring US-headquartered data annotation firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Figure%20Eight">Figure Eight</a> for up to $300 million, including a $175-million upfront cash payment.</article>

Sydney-based technology firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Appen%20Ltd">Appen Ltd</a> announced that it is acquiring US-headquartered data annotation firm <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Figure%20Eight">Figure Eight</a> for up to $300 million, including a $175-million upfront cash payment.
In a statement, Appen said it will offer Figure Eight an additional payment of up to $125 million in 2020 based on 2019 performance.
Appen, listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with offices worldwide, offers human-annotated datasets for machine learning and artificial intelligence. It has over 1 million contractors working in over 180 languages and more than 130 countries.
Figure Eight, founded in San Francisco in 2007, claims its technology platform uses machine learning-assisted annotation solutions to create training data. In 2018 alone, the company said it played a “critical role” in the AI ecosystem by delivering 325 million human judgements.
“The unified business will be strongly positioned to deliver the increasing volume, quality and speed requirements for training data to support machine learning and AI,” according to the statement.
Figure Eight will continue to operate independently as a division of Appen through the end of 2019 to allow it to remain focused on its product and development as well as on its customers.
In 2017, Appen acquired <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Leapforce">Leapforce</a>, an online platform that connects independent contractors with research-based jobs. Leapforce was founded in 2008 and is based in the Silicon Valley in Pleasanton, California.
The Australian firm also acquired <a href="https://www.dealstreetasia.com/?s=Medip%20Media Group">Medip Media Group</a>, a UK-based provider of secure transcription service, for an undisclosed amount.
Commenting on the company’s acquisition of Figure Eight, Appen CEO Mark Brayan said the combined businesses will help address customers’ scale, speed, and quality requirements.
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Sydney-based technology firm Appen Ltd announced that it is acquiring US-headquartered data annotation firm Figure Eight for up to $300 million.

Australia's Appen acquires data annotation firm Figure Eight for up to $300m

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Australia's Appen acquires data annotation firm Figure Eight for up to $300m

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