Snap , the company behind Snapchat , has acquired a small Venice, Calif.-based drone startup dubbed Ctrl Me, which counted some Hollywood studios among its clients. Buzzfeed first reported about the acquisition Friday afternoon , and Variety has since learned from a source familiar with the deal that it actually happened late last year.

Buzzfeed reported that the acquisition was a small-scale acquihire, with Snap spending $ 1 million or less to hire Ctrl Me’s founder Simon Nielsen. Snap declined to comment.

Ctrl Me wasn’t actually building its own drones , Variety learned from a source familiar with the company. Instead, the company acted more like a small, specialized retailer, reselling other company’s drones and custom-rigging them to carry heavy high-end cameras. Nielsen also described some of that work in a YouTube video posted back in 2014:

In that light, the acquisition may be more about adding expertise to the team than about acquiring any actual technology. Nielsen is known as a drone expert, and also knows the limitations of the technology, according to a source.

This isn’t the first time Snap has shown interest in drones. Last year, Business Insider reported that the company had been in talks with Berkeley-based drone startup Lily Robotics, but those talks didn’t result in an acquisition.

Related stories

James Corden on ‘Carpool Karaoke,’ Ratings and Staying Out of the Political Fray

James Corden to Star in ‘Late Late Show’ Offshoot for Snapchat Shows (EXCLUSIVE)

Snapchat Shows: Inside the Plan to Reimagine TV for the Mobile Era