Apple has acquired Particle, a web app design startup that counts Justin Timberlake as a lead investor, for an undisclosed sum, according to CNET.
Particle was founded in 2008 by Aubrey Anderson and Cole Rise, and the two co-founders had previously done design and marketing work for Apple while at other companies. The Particle team focused on building HTML5 web applications -- the technology championed by Apple -- for big name clients including Apple, Google and Amazon.
Indeed, the two companies appear to have had a good working relationship. Particle notes on its About page that it has "great Apple relationships and execution experience around iAds, iTunes Extras and Apple.com."
Lowensohn reports that Apple purchased the company last month specifically to bring on some of its dozen staff members -- a move commonly referred to as an "acqui-hire." It's unclear which project or department these employees will join.
Neither of the companies have formally acknowledged the acquisition yet, but several employees at Particle have already changed their LinkedIn profiles to reflect the fact that they are now working at Apple. Rise, the co-founder, now describes himself as a creative technologist at Apple.
Apple and Particle did not immediately respond to our requests for comment.