The mergers and acquisitions round up

It's time for the mergers and acquisitions round up again, our new Friday feature where we will get you up to speed on all the wheelings and dealings in start up land. Here's what went on over the past week: Snapchat acquires Scan.me  TechCrunch writes that Snapchat's recent acquisition of Scan.me, revealed in emails leaked through the Sony hack, now makes sense, with Snapchat this week debuting its new Snaptags feature, which allows users to scan QR codes to easily follow other users. The new feature was made possible thanks to Scan.me. Fingerprint acquires Cognitive Kid and Scribble Press Fingerprint, a company that makes apps for kids, has acquired two kids’ mobile education companies. Founded in 2010, it’s now estimated the company’s network of apps is around 3 million. The acquisition of Cognitive Kid and Scribble Press highlights the Fingerprint's desire to bring educational content to its network. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Pluralsight buys Code School for $36 million Pluralsight, an online training technology platform, has acquired Code School, a startup offering instructional videos and courses for developers. It's the company's six acquisition in the past 18 months as it vies to compete against the big names in the online learning space. Harman acquires Red Bend Software for $170 million & Symphony Teleca for $780 million US audio and infotainment equipment company Harman has acquired Israeli startup Red Bend Software, a provider of software management technology for connected devices. Harman hopes to help the growth of Red Bend in the automotive space. The company also acquired Symphony Teleca, suppliers of software services to the mobile communications industry to help establish Harman as a provider of application engineering services for connected devices. Slyce acquires SnipSnap for $6.5 million Slyce, a visual search provider, has bought SnipSnap for $6.5 million. SnipSnap is a mobile couponing app that first worked by crowdsourcing coupons: users could take pictures of coupons through the app, which were then processed and made available for other users. It now also develops couponing systems for major retailers across the US. The Slyce and SnipSnap teams will be working autonomously but sharing their technology and ideas. Sodexo Group acquires BBbook Crèche Attitude, a French startup helping with the establishment and running of crèches that was bought by the Sodexo group in 2010, has acquired BBbook, a platform that helps over 7000 families find and reserve spots for their kids in over 850 partnering crèches around France. Cibando acquired by Zomato Italian startup Cibando, a restaurant discovery service, has been bought by the Indian restaurant discovery service Zomato as part of the company's worldwide expansion.

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