US software company Interactive Intelligence has acquired Mumbai-based tech startup Customer360 for an undisclosed amount.
The deal follows a slew of acquisitions led by global corporations such as Twitter, Facebook and Yahoo since the beginning of last year. In January, social-networking company Twitter bought Bengaluru's mobile technology services startup ZipDial.
Customer360 makes software-as-a-service applications. These help 2,500 small businesses globally including Yatra.com and Housing.com enhance customer relations using non-voice communication channels.
It offers a customer engagement platform that includes video chat and mobile app for live chat and helpdesk.
“We approached them (Interactive Intelligence) in September for partnership,” said Mitul Thakkar, 30-year-old chief executive at Customer360. “After seeing our product and team, they came up with an acquisition offer within a month.”
Mr Thakkar declined to reveal the financial details of the deal, but mentioned it as a “very good exit for everyone” at the firm.
This includes its 32 employees as well as investors, Vishwas Patel, founder of online payment gateway CCAvenue and Milind Mody, CEO of digital agency eBrandz. All the employees will now join Interactive Intelligence as part of its subsidiary in Mumbai.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Donald Brown more than two decades ago, Interactive Intelligence provides communication services for BPOs. The firm which competes with Avaya, Cisco and Alcatel-Lucent will now be able to use Customer360’s technology which enables contact centre to agents provide personalised and real-time experience to customers.
“This platform, combined with the team’s deep understanding of video, chat and mobile technologies, will add tremendous value to our customer engagement and business communications cloud services,” said Jeff Swartz, a vice president at Interactive Intelligence, in a statement.
Software product think-tank iSPIRT facilitated the deal, as part of its M&A Connect Program that aims to enable seamless merger and acquisition activity between global corporates and promising Indian startups.
Quality technology
“The Customer360 team has developed high quality technology and we are excited to see them continuing their journey as part of Interactive Intelligence,” said Sanat Rao, Partner, M&A, iSPIRT. Law firm Dhrumil M. Shah & Co. was also a financial advisor to Customer360 on this transaction.
Customer360 was founded by Mr Thakkar along with his friends Mayuresh Shilotri and Onkar Bhosle in September 2013. An engineer, Mr Thakkar spent five years in the US doing his masters at State University of New York and working at firms such as Yahoo, before returning to India in 2012.
