Midjourney Makes First Acquisition, Buys Astrology App Co-Star

AI image generation startup Midjourney has acquired Co-Star, the popular AI-powered astrology app, marking its first acquisition as the company expands beyond image generation into consumer applications. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

As part of the acquisition, Banu Guler, Co-Star's co-founder and CEO, has joined Midjourney as its Chief Design Officer. She will lead a cross-functional design, product, and frontend team across Midjourney's growing portfolio of projects. Midjourney said the Co-Star app will continue to operate independently under Guler's leadership.

Founded in 2021 by David Holz, the former co-founder of Leap Motion, Midjourney is one of the world's leading AI image generation companies. Unlike rivals such as OpenAI and Stability AI, the company has remained bootstrapped, refusing venture capital funding while building a profitable business around its AI image and video generation platform.

The company recently signaled plans to expand into new areas, including consumer apps and healthcare technologies.

Co-Star, founded in 2017 by Banu Guler, Anna Kopp, and Ben Weitzman, combines NASA astronomical data, birth chart calculations, and AI-generated insights to deliver personalised horoscopes and compatibility readings.

The app has attracted millions of users, particularly among younger audiences, and has raised more than $20 million from investors including Maveron, Aspect Ventures, and 14W.

In announcing the acquisition, Holz said he had known Guler for more than five years and praised her product vision. "Co-Star itself is a wonderful project, and it will remain entirely under Banu's control and direction," Holz wrote in a blog post.