According to recent reports from both Re/code and The Wall Street Journal, Google is in the later stages of talks to invest in Symphony, a startup building a secure messaging platform. While the exact terms of the investment, including its value, have not been determined, WSJ's report said that the deal will value Symphony at $650 million...
Sources familiar with the deal say that this investment is coming from Google itself, not Alphabet's investment arms Google Ventures and Google Capital. As noted by Re/code, this wouldn't be the first invest of this kind, with the company leading a $542 million investment round in budding augmented realty startup Magic Leap last year.
Symphony has a cloud-based messaging platform with a security focus, and offers personal, financial, and business & enterprise solutions, according to its website. For financial services, Symphony touts that it allows users to "interact while maintaining their regulatory compliance and security."
Symphony's secure, cloud-based communications service delivers the next wave in organizational productivity where markets and individuals come together to create vibrant communities in which to share content, insights and opinions without compromising on organizational compliance.
Google appears to be the company's first investor outside of the financial industry, according to the reports, and an announcement "could be made as soon as next week," people familiar with the investment have said.
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