Reddit acquires machine learning platform Spell

Reddit has acquired machine learning platform Spell to enhance its ML capabilities and improve speed and relevancy on its app. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded by former Facebook engineer Serkan Piantino in 2016, Spell offers a SaaS-based AI platform that empowers technology teams to more easily run ML experiments at scale. With the acquisition, the company plans to move faster to integrate ML across its Product, Safety, and Ads teams. 

““Spell has made product experimentation scalable, enabling engineers to efficiently build and run tests on a platform that already integrates the best high-powered computing in a simple UI that makes it simple for non-technical teams to understand and track,” said Reddit’s Chief Product Officer Pali Bhat. “Serkan and his team are a great fit and we look forward to seeing how their capabilities and talent help us make Reddit simpler, richer, and more relevant.”

Spell will no longer be signing up new commercial customers to its service. Team members from Spell have joined Reddit and will support existing and spearhead new ML projects across the company related to how the company identifies and classifies contextual relevance, organize conversations, customize ad placements, and protect communities.

Serkan Piantino will report to Reddit’s Chief Product Officer Pali Bhat and lead a hyper-focused team as Reddit’s Vice President of Foundational Product.