# Cognition's acquisition of Havana

Part of Inside Cognition, researched with Autumn (https://www.autumn.ai) from public sources. Updated 2026-11-04. Interactive version: https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/acquisitions/havana

Cognition's press release described Havana as a startup building AI agents; Havana's November 2025 release described an AI student recruitment platform for higher education.

- Announced: Apr 29, 2026
- Deal: Acquisition, per Cognition's press release on its Singapore expansion
- Price: not disclosed

## What happened, by date

- Nov 13, 2025: Havana announced an AI student recruitment platform for higher education, naming Nathan Wangliao as CEO. [1](https://markets.financialcontent.com/theeveningleader/article/gnwcq-2025-11-13-havana-launches-ai-student-recruitment-solution-to-transform-higher-education-enrollment)
- Apr 29, 2026: Cognition's press release on its Singapore expansion said its entry followed the acquisition of Havana, a startup building AI agents. [1](https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-insights/cognition-expands-to-asia-with-singapore-regional-headquarters) [2](https://technode.global/2026/04/29/ai-coding-agent-cognition-expands-to-singapore-as-asia-pacific-hub/)
- Apr 30, 2026: Cognition's post on opening its Singapore APAC headquarters did not mention Havana. [1](https://cognition.com/blog/singapore)

## In their own words

> These days, everyone in tech goes on about how ‘cracked’ a team is.  What I didn't expect at Cognition was how genuinely kind people are.  It's the kind of team where someone will stay late to help me debug a problem that's not even theirs to fix.

Nathan Wangliao, APAC (joined with Havana), Apr 1, 2026 [1](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nathanwangliao_incredibly-excited-to-share-that-havana-has-activity-7445044281775562752-pfUn)

## Who joined Cognition

- [Nathan Wangliao](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/nathan-wangliao) (founder): CEO of Havana; now Building [1](https://markets.financialcontent.com/theeveningleader/article/gnwcq-2025-11-13-havana-launches-ai-student-recruitment-solution-to-transform-higher-education-enrollment) [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanwangliao) [3](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nathanwangliao_incredibly-excited-to-share-that-havana-has-activity-7445044281775562752-pfUn)
- [Zhan Xiong Chin](https://www.autumn.ai/resources/cognition/people/zhan-xiong-chin) (founder): CTO & Co-founder, Havana; now Member of Technical Staff [1](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/nathanwangliao_incredibly-excited-to-share-that-havana-has-activity-7445044281775562752-pfUn) [2](https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhan-xiong-chin)

## What happened to Havana

Cognition's press release said Havana's team will be integrated into its regional operations across engineering, go-to-market and product development; the fate of the product was not stated. [1](https://www.edb.gov.sg/en/news-and-insights/cognition-expands-to-asia-with-singapore-regional-headquarters) [2](https://technode.global/2026/04/29/ai-coding-agent-cognition-expands-to-singapore-as-asia-pacific-hub/) [3](https://www.crnasia.com/news/2026/artificial-intelligence/cognition-sets-up-apac-hub-in-singapore)

## Unconfirmed or disputed

- Havana is named in Cognition's press release on its Singapore expansion, published by the Singapore EDB, but not in its Singapore blog post.
- Price and terms were not disclosed.