Following the news that wearable startup – Pebble is shutting down, Fitbit has officially confirmed it is buying the company’s assets. The acquisition covers Pebble’s key assets – technology, software, key personnel (workforce) and intellectual property, but excludes hardware products.
According to reports, the digital health and fitness-tracking company purchased Pebble’s core assets for a sum around $34 – $40 million but the real terms of acquisition is not disclosed. In a statement issued by Fitbit, James Park, CEO and co-founder of Fitbit said;
“With basic wearables getting smarter and smartwatches adding health and fitness capabilities, we see an opportunity to build on our strengths and extend our leadership position in the wearables category. With this acquisition, we’re well positioned to accelerate the expansion of our platform and ecosystem to make Fitbit a vital part of daily life for a wider set of consumers, as well as build the tools healthcare providers, insurers and employers need to more meaningfully integrate wearable technology into preventative and chronic care.”
As part of the agreement, members of the Pebble team will join Fitbit to continue work on their software platform and the company will no longer be manufacture, promote or sell any devices. Existing devices will continue to work as normal but functionality may reduce over time.
Orders for the Pebble 2, which only began shipping, has been cancelled while both the Pebble Time 2 and Pebble Core have cancelled.
