It’s been a few red-hot weeks over at the Messagebird HQ. Just last month the company announced the acquisitions of video platform 24sessions and customer data platform hull.io. These purchases came on the heels of a $200 million Series C funding round, and through an extension of this round, the omnichannel communications platform has now raised a whopping $1 billion.
Checking the records and the recollection, I’m hard-pressed to find a European Series C round that can top this number.
Continuing their shopping spree, Messagebird has entered a definitive agreement to purchase Colombia, Maryland-based predictive email platform SparkPost for $600 million. The transaction is expected to be finalised in Q2 of this year, following the obligatory regulatory approvals and satisfactory closing conditions.
The transaction was financed by Eurazeo, Tiger Global, BlackRock, and Owl Rock. Existing investors including Atomico, Accel, Spark Capital, and Y Combinator all participated. As part of the deal, Nathalie Kornhoff-Brüls from Eurazeo will also join the MessageBird board.
"We knew Robert was an exceptional entrepreneur back in 2017 when we first invested in the company’s Series A round. With this acquisition and the addition of email to the MessageBird product suite, Robert has simultaneously completed his vision of building a truly omnichannel platform and become the latest European enterprise founder to enter the United States," comments Atomico partner and MessageBird board member Hiro Tamura. "Thanks to him and the MessageBird team any business, anywhere in the world, can now communicate with their customers on any channel the customer prefers. We're excited to support them as they continue to scale into the US market."
Clearly, when MessageBird said they wanted to be the go-to omnichannel platform, they weren’t joking around.
If the acquisition of Atlanta-based hull.io wasn’t already an indicator of MessageBird’s US aspirations, snapping up SparkPost firmly plants the flag in the ground.
“Our acquisition of SparkPost will further strengthen our ability to serve customers through email as a powerful value channel, and with the most contextual, relevant information,” says MessageBird CEO Robert Vis. “We’re also enthusiastic to expand our global business into the US market and leverage the acquisition as a logical and exciting next step in our mission to be the leading platform of choice for businesses to communicate with their customers on any channel, globally.”
Through this acquisition, MessageBird now expands its portfolio to include some of the biggest brands on the other side of the Atlantic including Disney, Zillow, PayPal, The New York Times, Adobe, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and JP Morgan. Combined, MessageBird will count over 25,000 customers, employs over 700 individuals, and will have a run-rate of over $500 million.
“By joining forces with MessageBird, we will be able to bring broader, deeper value to all of our customers through any digital communications channel,” adds SparkPost CEO Rich Harris. “Our companies are a great cultural fit, having both built teams that pride themselves on serving the enterprise and helping customers craft compelling, flexible solutions to challenging business problems.”
So Messagebird ... about that IPO? It's only a matter of time, no?
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