Take Blip Announces a US$70 million Series B Financing Round Jun 7, 2022
The investment, led by the Warburg Pincus, will finance the international expansion of the company
June 7, 2022 -- Take Blip, a leading business messaging cloud platform that develops conversational applications to support interactions between brands and consumers, has executed a $70 million Series B round led by Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm.
“This investment reflects the successful path our company has taken over the past years. We are still in the first innings of a major digital revolution powered by the rapid development of artificial intelligence applications. Take Blip’s platform allows our clients and the consumers that interact with them to benefit from this incredible change. This investment shows that Brazil is one of the leading geographies for software innovation and we are proud to be a part of it," celebrates Roberto Oliveira, CEO and Co-Founder of Take Blip.
With this investment, the company plans to accelerate its international expansion and focus on supporting its team, culture, product evolution, clients, and acquisitions. “We are focusing mainly on the North-American and Latin-American markets. Our product is global by nature. It has been used by many companies in different geographies as it fits into conversational channels that are used worldwide such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Google Business Messages, Google RCS, Google Assistant, and Apple Messages for Business,” explains Roberto Oliveira.
In 2020, Take Blip received a Series A investment of US$100 million from Warburg Pincus. At that time, it was the largest Series A round ever to take place in Brazil. Following an ambitious growth strategy, in January Take Blip announced the acquisition of STILINGUE, a platform that is a pioneer on artificial intelligence focused on customer experience.
According to Marcelo Hein, Chief Strategy Officer at Take Blip, additional acquisitions are expected in the near future. “Warburg Pincus has been a phenomenal partner and we are proud to have them leading our second investment round. Earlier this year, we passed the US$100 million mark for annualized revenues, an important milestone for a software company. On top of that, we are growing at c.100% vs. last year with very healthy margins. This round will allow us to keep focusing on innovation and growth,” says Hein.
Take Blip was founded by the partners Roberto Oliveira, Antônio Oliveira, Daniel Costa, Sérgio Passos, and Marcelo Oliveira. The company, which initiated its operations in the state of Minas Gerais, has more than 1,300 employees and more than 3,000 clients. In Brazil, Take Blip works with brands like Itaú Unibanco, Coca-Cola, Fiat, Claro, Nestlé, Hermes Pardini, BMG, Safra, PagSeguro, Empiricus and others. On a global scale, it works with companies including Dell, General Motors, Hotmart, Mercado Pago, Via Laser Services, XP Investimentos, among others. The brand has customers in more than 25 countries and over 220,000 conversational apps have been created on the platform in the last 12 months.
"This moment means a lot for Take Blip. In addition to scaling our business internationally, positively impacting the conversational market, we will be able to invest in attracting, retaining, and engaging new talent, increasing the company's competitiveness", says Daniel Costa, Co-founder, Chairman and Head of People at Take Blip.
“Take Blip has seen substantial growth since our initial investment in 2020 through strategic acquisition, product innovation, and strong customer service, increasing the platform’s value for customers, partners, and employees around the world,” said Piero Minardi, Managing Director and Head of Brazil at Warburg Pincus. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Roberto and the team at Take Blip in creating a truly unique platform where customers can discover, engage, and transact with brands and businesses in cost-effective and efficient conversational channels,” added Bruno Maimone, Principal, Warburg Pincus.
“Take Blip is mission-critical to brands that want to talk with their customers with an AI first approach. What sets us apart is our software architecture that eliminates data silos and stores all customer-brand interactions in a single place, unifying the entire customer journey, from marketing to customer support. Then, using the best AI engines, we enable brands to analyze the data and predict which would be the best next interaction with that individual customer. This strategy improves the user experience and accelerates our client’s product roadmap,” concludes Roberto.
ABOUT TAKE BLIP
Take Blip is a leading business messaging cloud platform that develops conversational applications to support interactions between brands and consumers on messaging apps. Founded in 1999, the company has a pioneer and protagonist role on Brazilian mobile internet. In 2020, Take Blip received a Series A investment of US$100 million from Warburg Pincus. At the time, it was the largest Series A in the history of Brazil's investment market. In 2022, the company received a Series B investment of US$70 million also from Warburg Pincus. Nowadays, it helps brands like Dell, GM, Itaú Unibanco, Coca-Cola, Localiza, Fiat, Claro and more to sell, engage and to support their consumers via conversational applications on the main messaging services such as WhatsApp Business API, SMS, Telegram, Instagram, Messenger, Google Business Messages, Google RCS, Apple Messages for Business, and others. The company was elected for 5 years straight as one of the best places to work by the Great Place to Work. More information on www.take.net/en
ABOUT WARBURG PINCUS
Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global growth investor. The firm has more than $80 billion in assets under management. The firm’s active portfolio of more than 245 companies is highly diversified by stage, sector, and geography. Warburg Pincus is an experienced partner to management teams seeking to build durable companies with sustainable value. Founded in 1966, Warburg Pincus has raised 21 private equity and 2 real estate funds, which have invested more than $100 billion in over 1,000 companies in more than 40 countries. The firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Amsterdam, Beijing, Berlin, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Mauritius, San Francisco, São Paulo, Shanghai, and Singapore. For more information please visit www.warburgpincus.com. Follow us on LinkedIn.