Osborne Clarke advises CloudFactory on acquisition of machine learning platform Hasty

International law firm Osborne Clarke has advised CloudFactory, a global leader in human-in-the-loop artificial intelligence (AI), on its acquisition of Hasty, a data-centric machine learning (ML) platform that allows companies to build and deploy vision AI applications faster and more reliably.

Headquartered in Reading, UK, CloudFactory was founded in 2010 and has already established offices across four continents. The acquisition of Berlin-based Hasty will allow CloudFactory to provide users with natively built, AI-assisted automation capabilities that reduce manual data work and maximise workforce productivity. Integrating Hasty's AI-assisted labelling and data-centric platform with CloudFactory's human-in-the-loop AI solutions will accelerate production of ML models. This aligns closely with CloudFactory's strategy to lead in more aspects of the AI development lifecycle.

Partner Justin Starling, commented: "It was a pleasure to support Mark and the CloudFactory team on the acquisition of Hasty, which will see the company further harness the potential of AI, particularly ML, as they accelerate development and delivery of high-performing models for clients".

Mark Sears, CEO of CloudFactory, commented: “We're seeing our most successful clients shift from manual data labelling to AI-assisted labelling, and from a model-centric to a data-centric approach. This shift requires best-in-class labelling automation and tools to work on the model and the data in tandem - enabling rapid feedback and fast iterations."

Osborne Clarke's UK team was led by Corporate Partner Justin Starling and included Paralegal Fern Tawera as well as Partner Anika Chandra and Senior Associate Rhiannon Jones (incentives).

In Germany, the team was led by Maximilian Vocke who was supported by Robin Eyben and Robert Marx (corporate); Dr. Matthias Kloth, Robert Briske, Dr. Marius Tillwich, Philip Funke and Louisa Hartig (IP); Dr. David Plitt and Dr. Sebastian Lilje (employment); Dr. Hendrik Schöttle and Cédric Ludwig (IT); Dr. Jens Wrede and Jan-Niklas Buttermann (tax); and Neil Simon-Weaver (data protection).

Osborne Clarke has a market-leading practice for mid-market tech M&A and works closely with founders, shareholders, management teams and institutional investors to support them through the course of a company's life-cycle and its milestone transactions.