Omnichannel Messaging Company MessageBird Raises $200 Million in Funding

During a time when some companies seem to be deliberately making it harder for customers to connect with them, the successful ones are broadening the ways customers can communicate with them. They’re doing this by connecting more platforms and media, allowing customers to reach out by phone call, email, text, browser, mobile app and social media.

MessageBird is an Amsterdam-headquartered cloud communications company that strives to make these connections easier, so users can “get sh*t done,” as it says on the company’s web site. When it first debuted, MessageBird was considered a European competitor to Twilio. Since then, the company has since repositioned itself as an “Omnichannel Platform-as-a-Service” (OPaaS). It connects users and customers through WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, Twitter, Line, Telegram, SMS, email and voice. Customers can start online and then move their support request to a different channel as it suits them.

The company, which was founded in 2011, recently announced that it has raised $200 million in Series C funding in a round led by Silicon Valley’s Spark Capital. As a result of the funding, MessageBird now has a $3 billion valuation. The round included participation from Bonnier, Glynn Capital, LGT Lightstone, Longbow, Mousse Partners and NewView Capital. Existing investors include Accel, Atomico and Y Combinator.

According to the company, the new funding will be used to triple the size of MessageBird’s global team and further expand into its core markets in Europe, Asia, and Latin America as the company officially launches a “Work Anywhere” policy to respond to the global explosion of teleworking due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Robert Vis, MessageBird Founder and CEO. Said the goal is to build a world in which he can text with a business and never get stuck waiting on hold again.

“MessageBird has pioneered OPaaS (Omnichannel Platform-as a-Service) based on the idea that global companies should have zero-friction communication with their customers anywhere in the world and on any channel they prefer,” he said. “This latest round is validation that there is pent up demand from customers all over the world who also want traditional businesses to move into this brave new messaging-first omnichannel world and we have the leading product on the market to help them do just that.”