HCL Technologies Acquires AI Startup Wobby
HCL Technologies has completed its acquisition of Wobby, a startup specializing in AI-powered data analyst agents. The deal is part of a broader trend of large technology firms buying smaller AI companies to enhance their enterprise offerings. Wobby's technology is expected to bolster HCL's data automation and analytics capabilities.
- The all-cash transaction is valued at €4.5 million, with €3.0 million paid at closing and two subsequent payments of €0.75 million on the first and second anniversaries of the deal. - Wobby was founded in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2023 by CEO Amra Dorjbayar, a former investigative journalist, and CTO Nathan Tetroashvili. The founders previously collaborated on a fact-checking platform and aimed to combat misinformation. - Prior to the acquisition, Wobby had raised $1.19 million in a seed funding round in October 2024 from investors including Shaping Impact Group, V-Ventures, and imec.istart. - The acquisition was executed through Actian Germany GmbH, a subsidiary of HCL, and officially completed on February 20, 2026. - Wobby's technology will be integrated into HCLSoftware's Data & AI division, known as Actian, to complement its existing metadata management and data governance solutions with natural language query capabilities. - According to Wobby's CEO, Amra Dorjbayar, the startup is focused on "building AI agents that not only answer questions, but also are evolving toward proactive analytics by sharing automated insights." - This deal was part of a larger acquisition push by HCLTech, which spent approximately $400 million in one week on AI and data-focused companies, including a larger deal for data analytics firm Jaspersoft. - For the year ending December 31, 2024, Wobby reported revenues of €0.1 million and had a net worth of €1.0 million.
