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Eurazeo invests in MessageBird

Eurazeo has made a USD200 million minority investment in MessageBird, a global omnichannel communication platform.

Eurazeo Growth together with Tiger Global and alongside funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, Owl Rock and all existing investors including Atomico and Accel are co-leading a Series C round extension. The extended USD1 billion round represents Europe’s largest ever Series C round, and the second largest round on either side of the Atlantic.

On the back of the funding, MessageBird today announces it has entered into final negotiations to acquire US-based SparkPost, the globally leading  predictive e-mail intelligence platform. The USD600 million deal is expected to close in Q2 following receipt of customary regulatory approvals. The acquisition represents another important step for MessageBird in building a global omnichannel platform.

Beyond financing the strategic acquisition of SparkPost, this fundraising will enable the company to continue its geographical expansion, specifically in fast growth emerging markets. Moreover, the company plans to accelerate its investments into its software suite to help business customers increase productivity and improve customer experience.

MessageBird was founded in 2011 in the Netherlands with the ambition to transform the way businesses interact with their customers enabling them to adapt to new means of communication. The company offers a global cloud-based communication platform enabling frictionless business-to-customer communication across 20 channels including Live-chat, Video, Voice, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram, Google Business Messages, WeChat, Line, or Telegram.

On top of its connectivity APIs, the company has built software solutions, “Inbox” and “Flow Builder”. The former enables customer support agents to manage all customer interactions in a single, omnichannel thread, while Flow Builder allows business users to automate their communication workflows without a single line of code.

Post-acquisition, the combined company will serve more than 25,000 customers, from SMBs to large enterprises, including blue chip accounts such as Disney, Facebook, Glovo, Heineken, Hugo Boss, JP Morgan, Lufthansa Airlines, PayPal, SAP and Uber. The company employs 700 staff and  and has an annual revenue of above USD500 million.

Yann du Rusquec, Partner, says: “We are very proud to back MessageBird and actively contribute to one of the most exciting success stories ever started by a European company. The acquisition of SparkPost, which positions MessageBird as the world’s leading omnichannel communication ‘platform-as-a-service’, is a fantastic example of how our Growth Equity strategy helps tech companies expand their horizons, consolidate their positions and realise their full potential. Our mission is to help Europe nurture tech giants. No doubt MessageBird will be one of them.”

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