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Microsoft Swoops For UK Tech Firm SwiftKey

Microsoft Swoops For UK Tech Firm SwiftKey

Two Cambridge graduates are set to become multi-millionaires after the tech company they set up eight years ago was snapped up by Microsoft (NasdaqGS: MSFT - news) .

The US giant is buying SwiftKey, set up in 2008 by Jon Reynolds and Ben Medlock in a deal reported to be worth £174m.

They produced a predictive keyboard powered by artificial intelligence that is now used on 300 million devices every day.

One of the company's early backers was the actor Stephen Fry. He welcomed the deal and told Sky News: "It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) 's jolly good news."

The company has also worked with Professor Stephen Hawking, helping the world-famous scientist and author upgrade his communications system.

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Mr Reynolds and Mr Medlock said in a statement: "We're excited to announce an important milestone on SwiftKey's journey. As of today, we have agreed to join the Microsoft family."

Microsoft's executive vice president of technology and research, Harry Shum, said of the deal: "We love SwiftKey's technology and we love the team that Jon and Ben have formed."

Mr Medlock studied computer speech and sciences at Cambridge and the men used his knowledge of language patterns and artificial intelligence to create the SwiftKey system.

It predicts what a user is typing based on their previous writing habits – finishing words for them so they can write faster.

The company began as a side project as both the founders were working elsewhere after graduating. It has been backed by Octopus Investments. Based in London, it also now has offices in San Francisco and Seoul.

The SwiftKey app launched on the Android platform in 2010 and has since been downloaded from the Google Play store more than 10 million times. In 2014 it launched on the iPhone. It is now available in more than 100 languages.

Microsoft is shifting focus towards cloud services and mobile apps as growth slows in its traditional software business (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) .