The startup specialises in “modular electronics”, which allows to swap out interchangeable hardware parts.
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Founded in 2014, Nascent Labs says it “created the world’s first modular consumer electronics platform – to make product development fast, easy and accessible”.
Facebook’s Building 8 group was formed in April to drive advancements in connectivity hardware, and it is led by Regina Dugan, former head of Google’s advanced technology and projects group.
Facebook already has a dedicated hardware lab called Building 8, constructed with the similar aims of helping its engineers build and test prototype equipment and products. It just acquired a company that will help it make things fast.
The company also sought to ensure that users without any particular electronics manufacturing expertise or an engineering degree, could be able to to design and prototype new products easily.
The acquisition is notable in that Facebook has not been particularly active in the hardware space, focusing primarily on its core services as well as acquisitions like Instagram and WhatsApp.
What’s equally likely is that Building 8 will develop products we haven’t even seen yet because now it’s armed with a way to turn concept into reality in the (relative) blink of an eye.
Facebook confirmed the acquisition to Kurt Wagner of Re/code, saying that Elmieh and “other key members” of Nascent Objects were joining the company.
“Together, we hope to create hardware at a speed that’s more like software”, Dugan said about buying Nascent Objects on her Facebook page Monday.
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“We’re excited to build products that can open the world to everyone and create on a scale we couldn’t have imagined before”, wrote Baback Elmieh, Nascent Objects’ chief executive, in a blog post. It’s unclear what Facebook wants to build, but Nascent Objects specializes in modular gadgets. Though Facebook is making strides in launching internet-delivering autonomous planes, it could potentially tap new, more efficient production systems to pump them out at a faster pace (beating rivals like Google to the punch along the way).
