Prosus buys Boomerang, hires WeTransfer co-founder to lead AI push
What's the deal? Prosus, the owner of Romanian marketplace eMAGDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and classifieds platform OLX, has acquired file-sharing service BoomerangDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → from Dutch entrepreneur Ronald Hans and named him chief product officer. The deal, announced in September 2026, closed for an undisclosed sum.
Who is involved? Hans, known as Nalden, co-founded WeTransfer and sold it in 2024. He then launched Boomerang, a rival service he built after WeTransfer, he says, drifted from its original mission under new owners.
What's the endgame? The acquisition anchors a wider reshuffle of Prosus's AI and technology leadership. In his new role, Hans said he will turn ideas and technology into products people want, adding that a product should be one where "people should recommend a product not just because it is useful, but because it becomes impossible not to do so."
Who else moved? Prosus promoted Euro Beinat to chief AI officer and Paul van der Boor to chief technology officer. Beinat, who joined in 2018 and built the company's AI team from scratch, aims to create "Europe's leading AI laboratory."
By the numbers: Prosus took sole control of Dante InternationalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, eMAG's parent, this summer by buying the 11.77% stake held by businessman Iulian Stanciu. The eMAG group's revenue rose to $2.54 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2026, from $2.46 billion a year earlier.
Why now? The group is pushing to accelerate its AI strategy. Last year it unveiled a Large Commercial Model (LCM), an agentic AI system meant to replace traditional search and recommendation engines, trained on platforms including eMAG, OLX, and Despegar.
The signal: The moves mark Prosus's shift from passive technology investor to active operator in AI-driven ecosystems. "I want Prosus to launch products with the agility of a startup and learn like a platform, ten times faster," said chief executive officer Fabricio Bloisi.
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
