The way we communicate today is changing at a rapid pace, with new solutions emerging in everything from chat, to videoconferencing, and even meeting room technology. One of the ways that new companies have begun to get involved in the path towards digital transformation (DX), is by introducing API-based UCaaS solutions, for businesses and enterprises who want a "build-your-own" approach to UC.
Today, MessageBird is quickly becoming one of the most competitive brands in the UCaaS market, outshining other solutions in the space with their simplicity, security, and innovation. Today, we caught up with the CEO behind MessageBird, Robert Vis, to learn a little more about the growth of the company, and where it might be heading in the future.
Where Did MessageBird Begin?
MessageBird is a relatively new company, but that hasn't stopped it from taking the world by storm. Since it was founded back in 2011, the brand has built a huge following of loyal customers, based on a platform of consistent growth. I was interested to learn where the concept for MessageBird came from, and how this new organisation took flight. Robert told me:
"It's interesting, at my previous company, we had an API for mobile payments which basically leveraged a user's carrier build to pay for virtual goods online - mostly for gaming companies. What we were trying to do, was verify user phone numbers, while processing payments at the same time."
"We used the number 1 messaging company, yet still, we were getting late messages or messages that didn't arrive at all. Every time that happened, our customers didn't make any money, and neither did we because we couldn't verify payment. That's when we decided to build a solution ourselves."
After a little experimentation, MessageBird managed to create something infinitely more reliable for their communication needs, which is when their vendors started coming to them and asking whether they could resell the service to them.
"Pretty soon in, we discovered that our biggest business opportunity came in delivering reliable carrier experiences. That's why we have so many carrier relationships today, and that's what makes us different from the people who just build on top of carrier solutions. Our direct connections are the core of our company."
Where's Your Customer Focus Right Now, and How are You Raising Money?
MessageBird is a CPaaS solution, with similar competitors in the space like Twilio, I was interested to learn where the organisation is placing the majority of their focus when it comes to building their customer base. Robert said:
"Obviously Europe is very important to us, but we have about 220 direct connections globally today, including in Asia and America, so we're really trying to build everything. The trend that we saw, was that people use our system in the US, to send to Europe or Asia. That's what's also made us decide to go after the North American market too, and why we've started to raise money."
I was interested in the fact that MessageBird, as a brand has never had to raise money or capital in the past. I asked Robert to explain why the organisation was starting to look for investment now, and how they had grown prior to this moment:
"For the past six years, we've completely boot-strapped the business. We never raised any capital, even though we had plenty of interest from investors. We were profitable and investing that profit back into the business, with a growth of around 100% a year for the past two years. Basically, we didn't see the need to get any more capital. But, we are focusing on the enterprise market, and when you're in that market, you're often concerned with security, and price. Another thing that matters to Enterprise companies, is working with bigger organisations. That means that we need to be able to build a powerful balance sheet to show our enterprise customers that we're going to be around for the next five years."
