University pals sell tech firm to Twitter for £102m

A BRITISH tech firm founded by two university graduates has been bought by Twitter for £102m.

Magic Pony Technology, which makes software to improve video shown online, was founded two years ago by Imperial College London graduates Robert Bishop, 26, and 28year-old Zehan Wang. The software allows a computer to recognise images – for example faces or landscapes – and make decisions about how they ought to look, based on what it has learnt from analysing edges, textures, straight lines and other features of similar pictures.

Magic Pony reportedly got its name because the technology is so impressive that, like a magic pony, you have to see it to believe it. The firm is the latest British tech start-up to be sold overseas but it would not say how much the two friends would each get from the sale.

Twitter boss Jack Dorsey said: ‘Magic Pony’s technology will be used to enhance our strength in video and opens up a whole lot of exciting creative possibilities for Twitter.’