- November 23, 2015
- Posted by: Lantre Barr
- Category: Articles
2015 is not over yet but we doubt we will see any more Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) related acquisitions headed into the holiday season. We could be wrong, let’s see if we will need to update this list before year end. 2016 is going to be an exciting year for the industry. While we don’t think this will be the “breakout” year for the WebRTC industry, we will continue to see a steady and gradual increase in the number of companies implementing WebRTC into their products and services. Tsahi talks about this in his recent post, WebRTC Demand isn’t Exponentially Growing. In 2015 we saw 20+ acquisitions and mergers take place. We are sure we have overlooked some smaller acquisitions that took place this year but this list is proof that the interest is high for WebRTC related companies, products and services.
January 2015
Slack Acquires Screenhero
Slack announced on January 28, 2015 that they acquired Screenhero. Screenhero is a collaborative screen sharing application. Screenhero allows users to collaborate on documents and projects in real-time by sharing their screens.
http://blog.screenhero.com/post/109337923751/screenhero-joins-slack
March 2015
Mitel Acquires Mavenir
On March 2, 2015 Mitel announced that they have acquired Mavenir, a leading provider of software-based networking solutions for mobile carriers.
http://investor.mitel.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=899012
April 2015
Box Acquires Verold
On April 14, 2015 Box announced that they acquired Verold Studio. Verold Studio is a powerful online visual editor that lets you turn 3D content into interactive presentations on the web.
https://www.box.com/blog/box-acquires-verold/
Atlassian Acquires Jitsi & Blue Jimp
On April 22, 2015 Atlassian announced that they acquired Blue Jimp the team responsible for Jitsi. Jitsi is an open source project that includes the WebRTC Jitsi Videobridge, among other technologies. The Jitsi Videobridge relays video rather than mixing it which provides improved scale with higher quality and lower latency.
http://blogs.atlassian.com/2015/04/atlassian-acquires-blue-jimp-jitsi-org
May 2015
IR Acquires IQ Services
On May 3, 2015 IR announced that they acquired IQ Services. IQ Services offers contact center quality assurance managed testing services. IQ Service’s tested and proven methods for examining communications technology system performance explore every facet of your system to ensure that all customer contacts are handled smoothly, professionally, and quickly.
http://www.ir.com/news/ir-acquires-iq-services
Atlassian Acquire Hall
On May 6, 2015 Atlassian announced they have acquired Hall. Hall (formerly CompanyLine) helps teams and companies communicate in real-time. Our all-in-one unified communications app has everything your company needs to communicate and get things done.
http://blogs.atlassian.com/2015/05/hall-joins-atlassian/
Cisco Acquires Tropo
On May 7, 2015 Cisco announced that they acquired Tropo. Tropo.com public cloud API: Enables developers to make and receive phone calls and text messages from any web or mobile application, using a simple web API and pay-as-you-go pricing.
http://blogs.cisco.com/news/cisco-announces-intent-to-acquire-tropo
Fuze Acquires LiveMinutes
On May 20, 2015 Fuze, the cloud video conferencing company reinventing how distributed teams work, announced the acquisition of LiveMinutes, an online team workspace platform, as well as $20 million in additional funding from Hermes Growth Partners.
http://blog.fuze.com/fuze-and-liveminutes-transforming-team-workspaces/
June 2015
Broadsoft Acquires MPortal
On June 4, 2015 Broadsoft announced they have acquired mPortal, enabling BroadSoft’s global telecommunications service provider customers to deliver customizable unified communications (UC) experiences to a wide range of business end-users across different market segments. mPortal offers mobile software and services to telecom, cable and media providers, empowering them to deliver superior mobile user experiences for their content and services across smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and other IP-connected devices.
http://www.broadsoft.com/broadsoft-acquires-mportal-launches-broadsoft-design/
Comverse Acquires Acision
On June 15, 2015 Comverse announced they entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Acision, a privately-held leader in secure mobile messaging and engagement services, based in Reading, United Kingdom. Acision connects the world by powering relevant, seamless mobile engagement services that interoperate across IP platforms and enrich the user experience creating value and new communication opportunities for carriers, enterprises and consumers across the world.
Jive Communications Acquires Speek
On June 24, 2015 Jive Communications announced that they have acquired Speek, a WebRTC enabled conferencing solutions for small to mid-sized businesses.
July 2015
Pluralsight Acquires HackHands
On July 9th, 2015 Pluralsight announced that they acquired HackHands. HackHands instantly connects developers with a network of expert programmers at the click of a button. Get on-demand expert advice or hands-on technical help for your specific code related issues. HackHands helps developers progress their code, so they can build more, faster.
https://hackhands.com/hackhands-acquired-by-pluralsight/
Dropbox Acquires Clementine
On July 22, 2015 Clementine, an enterprise communication service, announced that they have been acquired by Dropbox. Clementine focuses on internal communication, such as conference calls and chat services that aren’t connected to a personal phone number.
http://www.clementine.io/blog/category/clementine
August 2015
FreshDesk Acquires 1Click
On August 18, 2015 FreshDesk announced that they acquired 1Click.io. 1Click is a cloud based pluggable video infrastructure company. 1Click provides an easy to use plugin for browser and mobile platform to embed face to face conversations in your business workflows.
http://www.zdnet.com/article/freshdesk-buys-live-video-chat-platform-1click/
Vitruvian Acquires Voxbone
On August 20, 2015 Virtuvian announced that they acquired Voxbone. Voxbone is the market leader in providing local telephone numbers (aka DID numbers), enabling cloud communications in +55 countries.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150820005030/en/Vitruvian-Acquires-Majority-Stake-Voxbone
September 2015
Google Acquires Jibe Mobile
On September 30, 2015 Google announced that they acquired Jibe Mobile. Jibe Mobile, the Cloud Communications Company for mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and other communication networks, provides an open end-to-end technology platform enabling carriers to rapidly launch and commercially scale the most innovative IP communication services to mobile consumers globally.
October 2015
On October 29, 2015 Porch.com, a home services platform for homeowners and home professionals, announced the acquisition of Fountain, disclosed the hiring of several key leaders, and outlined a vision for 2016 that will make getting home projects completed easier than ever before in a year when demand for home services is expected to accelerate to near record levels.
http://webrtcdigest.com/2015/10/29/porch-acquires-mobile-advice-marketplace-fountain/
November 2015
Atos Acquires Unify
On November 3, 2015 Atos, The Gores Group and Siemens reached an agreement for Atos to acquire Unify, the number three world leader of integrated communication solutions. Atos SE (Societas Europaea) is a leader in digital services with 2014 pro forma annual revenue of circa €11 billion and 93,000 employees in 72 countries. Serving a global client base, the Group provides Consulting & Systems Integration services, Managed Services & BPO, Cloud operations, Big Data & Cyber-security solutions, as well as transactional services through Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry.
http://atos.net/en-us/home/we-are/news/press-release/2015/pr-2015_11_03_03.html
Genoa Acquires 1DocWay
On November 4, 2015 Genoa, a QoL Healthcare Company (Genoa) announced the launch of Genoa Telepsychiatry with its acquisition of 1DocWay, the nation’s largest outpatient telepsychiatry provider that offers a simple, easy-to-use platform to connect mental health providers and patients.
https://www.1docway.com/blog/2015/11/2/oc6pfpiavfk0x204q6scogit0q7bqt
ThinkingPhones Acquires Fuze
On November 16, 2015 ThinkingPhones acquired Fuze, a cloud-based video conferencing solution that connects people and organizations across devices. Fuze combines high-definition voice, video, and content-sharing capabilities into one experience that works across desktops, devices, and meeting rooms.
Cisco to Acquire Acano
On November 20, 2015 Cisco announced their intent to acquire Acano. Acano unites previously incompatible audio, video and web technologies in coSpaces — virtual meeting rooms, only radically better. With coSpaces, people work wherever their ideas and creativity thrive.
http://blogs.cisco.com/news/cisco-collaboration-news
December 2015
Interactive Intelligence Group Acquires Customer360
On December 10, 2015 Interactive Intelligence Group acquired Customer360, a Software as a Service (SaaS) application helps businesses in enhancing customer relations.
Microsoft Acquires Talko
On December 21, 2015 Microsoft acquired Talko a company who builds software and services for communications and social productivity, focused on new usage scenarios enabled by cloud-connected mobile devices.
http://blogs.microsoft.com/firehose/2015/12/21/talko-comes-to-skype-2/