Prime Highlight
- Atlassian will acquire The Browser Co. for $610 million in cash, with the deal expected to close by December.
- The acquisition aims to combine Arc’s organizational tools with Dia’s AI capabilities to build a productivity-focused browser.
Key Facts
- The Browser Co., founded in 2019, was valued at $550 million by Salesforce Ventures and Reid Hoffman prior to the deal.
- Arc struggled to achieve mass adoption, prompting the company to pause development and consider open-sourcing.
Background
Atlassian, the Australian software developer of Jira and Confluence, is preparing to purchase the New York-based startup The Browser Co., which created browsers Arc and Dia. According to CNBC, the deal will be closed by December, being worth $610 million in cash.
The Browser Co. was established in 2019 with the aim of reimagining the way individuals work on browsers. Its first product, Arc, included an in-built whiteboard, tab sharing, and automatic tab archiving. Most recently, it has released a lightweight browser called Dia, which allows users to talk to an AI assistant in multiple tabs at once.
Atlassian co-founder and CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes stated that most browsers were built to support casual browsing, and not complex workflows. He was complimentary of Arc and the way it has structured and simplified digital work.
Still, Arc struggled to gain mass adoption. CEO Josh Miller admitted its usage was closer to a professional tool than a consumer product, leading the company to pause development and hint at open-sourcing it.
Atlassian will integrate the organizational features of Arc with the AI capabilities of Dia to form a productivity-oriented, collaboration-focused, and smart support browser. The acquisition also highlights the growing competition in work tech, after the news that companies like OpenAI and Perplexity were interested in acquiring The Browser Co.
The Browser Co. is also supported by investors such as Salesforce Ventures and Reid Hoffman, which valued the company at $550 million prior to the deal.