Conversocial, the U.K.-headquartered social customer care platform, has acquired Silicon Valley startup HipMob. The Y Combinator alumnus had developed an integrated live chat platform for websites and mobile apps, whilst the acquisition will be used by Conversocial to enable it to serve customers who prefer web-based chat channels and in-app messaging on mobile to deliver online customer care.
Terms of the deal remain undisclosed. However, I understand it’s an all-stock acquisition and that it is primarily Conversocial buying HipMob for its technology and platform. “The HipMob brand will be fully absorbed into Conversocial, and the HipMob team will remain on to assist with the integration,” the company tells me.
Meanwhile, the acquisition speaks to Conversocial’s aim to optimize the online customer care process by offering customer care agents a single platform that is fully integrated across social, messaging and chat. That’s because, not only do consumers expect to be able to engage with brands on any channel they desire, when things do go wrong it’s often necessary to switch the conversation from one channel to another, such as going from social to private messaging.
“The future of all customer service is in messaging. By building a fully integrated digital customer engagement platform, we can provide a comprehensive solution with the best of social and messaging, enabling our clients to engage their customers wherever they are,” said Joshua March, CEO and founder of Conversocial, in a statement.
“We see this acquisition as a vital extension to our platform, ultimately capturing and engaging those customers who favor web-based chat and enabling our clients to provide a seamless customer experience across all digital channels, on a single platform.”
Conversocial claims many leading brands as customers, including Google, Hyatt, Sprint, Alaska Airlines, Audi and Tesco. The platform supports multiple social and messaging channels, such as Facebook, Messenger, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, SMS and more.