Bytedance Acquired Tech-related Patent Rights of Smartisan

According to insiders from tech startup Smartisan, some employees have been informed to re-sign their labor contracts with Bytedance, the parent company of Toutiao, which points to that Smartisan is under acquisition negotiations with Bytedance.

According to the disclosure, they have been asked to abandon the equity of Smartisan, and instead sign a six-month probationary contract with Bytedance.

Bytedance then replied by confirming that it indeed acquired some of the tech-related patent rights of Smartisan, for developing hardwares in education.

As Luo, the founder of Smartisan stated at the launch event of the new social app called Chat Bao, the condition of the company as well as himself was not as bad as outsiders speculated. However it is now obvious that the company needs back-up to survive.

According to Yicai, the No.2 employee Xiao Peng has joined the sub brand under OPPO realme at the end of December last year and now serves as the director of design.

SEE ALSO: The New Social App Chat Bao — It’s All about the Money Money Money

The significance of Bytedance’s acquisition is still questionable as Smartisan has gone through numerous adversities in the past year, including layoffs and failing to pay their employees. The tech resources related to Smartisan’s Bullet Messenger might facilitate Bytedance’s deployments in K-12 education. Last May, it launched the new educational product branded “gogokid”. In the beginning of 2019, it launched a paid content app named “Haohao Xuexi”, which literally means “study hard”. The app offers a variety of content covering career advice, parenting, culture, wealth management, and audio books.

Featured photo credit to TMTPOST