Google buys big data analytics startup Looker for $2.6 billion

Alphabet Inc’s Google announced on Thursday it’s buying Looker, a business intelligence software and big data analytics platform startup, for $2.6-billion in cash. Looker helps organizations explore, analyze and share real-time business analytics easily. The acquisition of Looker is expected to be complete later this year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals. Upon the close of the acquisition, Looker will join Google Cloud, the company said in a blog post.

“We’re very excited to announce that Google has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Looker, a unified platform for business intelligence, data applications, and embedded analytics,” Thomas Kurian, CEO, Google Cloud, said.

Founded in 2011 by Ben Porterfield, Lloyd Tabb, and Marc Randolph, the Santa Cruz, California-based Looker  focuses on the intersection of economics and engineering—helping customers use data to achieve success. Approaching the Business Intelligence (BI) industry in a new way. Looker employs about 800 people, has raised $281-million in venture capital and was valued at $1.6-billion in a funding round last year.

“When we looked at how do we broaden our portfolio, [data and analytics] is a segment where we have strength,” Kurian said. Looker is “complementary and completes our analytics foundation.”

This acquisition builds on an existing partnership between our two companies where we share more than 350 joint customers, such as Buzzfeed, Hearst, King, Sunrun, WPP Essence, and Yahoo! who are already using our products together to unlock the value of their business data—from customer-centric marketing and support, to data-driven product development, and complex financial planning and budgeting.

“The combination of Google Cloud and Looker will enable us to further accelerate our leadership as a WordPress digital experience platform,” said Heather Brunner, Chairwoman and CEO, WP Engine. “By combining our BigQuery data warehouse with extended BI and visualization tools from Looker, we’ll be empowered with faster, more actionable data insights that will help drive our business forward and better serve our customers.”