Gupshup announces acquisition of Knowlarity Communications for undisclosed amount

Conversational engagement solutions provider Gupshup on Wednesday announced the acquisition of Knowlarity Communications for an undisclosed amount.

Knowlarity offers cloud telephony, contact centre automation, AI-powered voice assistants and speech analytics solutions to over 6,000 customers across 65 countries. It has nearly 400 employees.

The acquisition complements Gupshup's conversational messaging suite and establishes it as the leader in voice and video communications as well, a statement said.

The transaction is expected to close by the end of February 2022, subject to the completion of customary closing conditions.

This is Gupshup's second acquisition in the last four months, following the acquisition of Dotgo, which offers an RCS (rich communications services) platform, it added.

Knowlarity operates in the voice-based conversational engagement market, which is poised to transform contact-centres, IVR systems and smart voice systems, accounting for a total addressable market (TAM) of nearly $18 billion in 2024.

Its solutions are used across multiple industries, including BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance), consumer goods, IT/ITeS and healthcare. Knowlarity revenues grew 50 per cent over the previous year, while international revenues ex-India grew 100 per cent in the same period, the statement said.

“As business-to-consumer engagement becomes conversational, Gupshup is busy enabling more ways for businesses to deliver rich experiences. With the addition of Knowlarity's products, businesses will now be able to build seamless conversational experiences across both messaging and voice channels,” Gupshup co-founder and CEO Beerud Sheth said.

He added that Knowlarity is the clear market leader in voice. Their comprehensive product suite spanning cloud telephony and contact centre automation, along with excellent customer traction, will further enhance Gupshup's leadership position.

''We at Knowlarity are excited to be a part of Gupshup. This will lead to richer experiences for our existing and future customers along with product enrichment and significant geographic expansion opportunities.

“Our customer-centric, innovation-focused cultures are perfectly aligned and we see significant synergies and new products emerging from the combination of two great teams,” Knowlarity CEO Yatish Mehrotra said.

In 2021, Gupshup became a unicorn (companies with a valuation of over $1 billion) with a valuation of $1.4 billion and raised $340 million from Tiger Global, Fidelity Management and Research Co LLC and other marquee global investors. DC Advisory acted as the sole financial advisor to Knowlarity on the transaction.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published on: Wednesday, February 02, 2022, 01:54 PM IST