Snapchat paid $15M for Vergence Labs, a Google Glass-like startup

Snapchat may have turned down more than $3 billion from Facebook to avoid acquisition, but it looks like it spent a hefty $15 million to quietly acquire a startup which builds a Google Glass-inspired product.

Recent Sony email leaks contain deal terms stating that ephemeral messaging app Snapchat paid $15 million for Vergence Labs, according to a Business Insider report. More specifically, it reportedly paid $11 million in cash and $4 million in stock.

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Vergence Labs makes glass frames that record video with the press of a side button, much like Google Glass products do. Epiphany Eyewear, the line of frames in question, comes in various storage sizes, and costs between $300 and $500. You can only shoot video with the glasses (no photos!), but the company has software that can capture still photos from the video, which can also be uploaded to a computer and into an online account.

Vergence Labs was founded in 2011 by Jon Rodriguez and Erick Miller, who crowdfunded Epiphany Eyewear on Indiegogo in the summer of 2012.

We’ve reached out to Snapchat and will update if we hear back.