Kustomer, the customer service messaging and management platform, has agreed to be acquired by Facebook. While the terms of the transaction were not disclosed, it has been widely reported that the transaction value is $1B. “We look forward to working closely with Facebook, where we will continue to serve our customers and work with our partners as part of the Facebook family,“ remarked Brad Birnbaum, CEO and Cofounder of Kustomer. “With our complementary capabilities, we will be able to help more people benefit from customer service that is faster, richer, and available whenever and however they need it–via phone, email, text, web chat, or messaging. In particular, we look forward to enhancing the messaging experience which is one of the fastest-growing ways for people and businesses to engage.”
We look forward to working closely with Facebook, where we will continue to serve our customers and work with our partners as part of the Facebook family. With our complementary capabilities, we will be able to help more people benefit from customer service that is faster, richer, and available whenever and however they need it–via phone, email, text, web chat, or messaging. In particular, we look forward to enhancing the messaging experience which is one of the fastest-growing ways for people and businesses to engage. – Brad Birnbaum
Founded by Birnbaum and Jeremy Suriel in 2015, Kustomer had raised a total of $173.5M in funding, with its last funding coming in December of last year. Investors in the company include Plug and Play, Battery Ventures, Canaan Partners, Redpoint, Tiger Global Management, BoxGroup, Coatue, Cisco Investments, Boldstart Ventures, Social Leverage, Alex Bard, George Hu, and Jeffrey Leventhal. Suriel and Birnbaum sold a previous startup they cofounded focused on customer service, Assistly, to Salesforce for $50M in 2011. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.
“Facebook plans to support Kustomer’s operations by providing the resources it needs to scale its business, improve and innovate its product offering, and delight its customer,” remarked Dan Levy (VP of Ads and Business Products, Facebook) and Matt Idema (COO, WhatsApp) in a written statement.
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