Braze, Inc.
FormerlyAppboy Inc. (2011–2017)
TypePublic company
Nasdaq: BRZE
Industry
Founded2011[1]
Founders
  • Mark Ghermezian
  • Bill Magnuson
  • Jon Hyman
Headquarters
New York, NY
,
U.S.
Key people
  • Bill Magnuson CEO
  • Jon Hyman CTO
  • Myles Kleeger President, CCO
  • Isabelle Winkles CFO
[2]
ProductsCustomer Engagement Platform
Number of employees
1000+
Websitewww.braze.com

Braze, Inc. is an American cloud-based software company based in New York City[3][4] It is a customer engagement platform used by businesses for multichannel marketing.[4]

Braze provides customer engagement technology for companies such as HBO Max,[5] Skyscanner,[6] PureGym,[7] Burger King,[8] Babylon Health,[9] Grubhub,[10][11] NASCAR[12] and CleanChoice Energy.[13]

History

Braze was co-founded as Appboy in 2011 by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman, and Mark Ghermezian. The three met after Magnuson and Hyman won the 2011 NYC Disrupt Hackathon for Gilt-ii.[14] The trio raised $3 million from investors in order to start the company.[1][15][16]

In August of 2017, the company received $50 million in Series D Financing[17] and later that year, Appboy rebranded to Braze, Inc.[18]

The company launched Braze Alloys in 2018, a network of over 45 integration applications with companies like Segment, mParticle, and Amplitude.[19] The company also raised $80 million in Series E funding, with a valuation of $850 million, and opened an office in Singapore.[20]

In 2019, Braze added Google AMP for email[21] and passed $100 million in annual recurring revenue.[22] The company was named a leader in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Mobile Marketing Platforms.[19] Also in 2019, Braze was listed by Inc. as one of the Best Places to Work and Forbes listed Braze on its Cloud 100 list.[23]

In 2020, Braze boycotted Facebook advertising and encouraged other brands to do the same over content moderation practices.[24] The company also joined several other marketing tech firms to offer technology grants to Black founded businesses with the Tech for Black Founders program.[25] At this time, Braze was delivering over 100 billion messages each month[26] and had raised over $175 million in funding.[27] That same year, Inc. listed Braze as one of the Best Workplaces for a second year.[28]

In 2016, the company launched Canvas (Cross Channel Journey Management) which allows brands to personalize and automate messages to users as well as incentivizing customers with rewards.[29][30] Braze also commissioned the Data Privacy Report providing details about consumers and their privacy concerns.[31] Along with Skyscanner and Apptopia Braze published the Ready for Takeoff 2021 Travel Industry Trends, Insights and Strategies.[32] Braze introduced integrations with Snowflake and Shopify.[33][34] Forbes named the company on the Cloud 100 list again.[35][36] Braze was also recognized as a leader in the Forrester CCCM Wave in 2021.[37]

In October 2021, Braze filed to go public.[38] On November 17, 2021, Braze’s IPO raised $520 million and had a market valuation of $5.9 billion.[39][40]

In 2022, Braze released the second annual Global Customer Engagement Review, detailing how retailers approach customer engagement.[41][42]

References

  1. ^ a b "Gilt-ii Turns Flash Sales Site Gilt Into An Auction Marketplace". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  2. ^ "Braze Inc Company Profile". Bloomberg. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. ^ Walmsley, Julie (January 31, 2018). "This Company Got to $400 Million Advising Clients to Do This 1 Thing". Inc. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  4. ^ a b Clancy, Heather (June 30, 2016). "This Startup Helps Marketers Optimize Mobile Outreach". Fortune. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  5. ^ Rodriguez, Ashley. "How HBO Max's marketing team works to turn free-trial users into paying customers and prevent cancellations". Business Insider. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  6. ^ Kiesnoski, Kenneth (June 13, 2021). "Eager to travel, Americans book Sun Belt beach, city stays as pandemic fades". CNBC. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  7. ^ "PureGym CMO: We're much stronger thanks to Covid". Marketing Week. March 1, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  8. ^ Machado, Fern (May 17, 2019). "The Inside Story of the Burger King Campaign That Changed the Brand's Entire Outlook on Marketing". Retrieved August 31, 2021.
  9. ^ "Talking mobile with Babylon Health". mobilemarketingmagazine.com. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  10. ^ "How Public.com used personalized cross-channel engagement to double attendance at live events". MarTech. February 16, 2022. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  11. ^ Talbot, Paul. "Inside The Grubhub Marketing Strategy". Forbes. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  12. ^ Zelaya, Ian (December 15, 2020). "How Nascar Got Quarantined Fans to Tune Into Virtual Races". Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  13. ^ Althouse/, Michaela (May 25, 2021). "Power Moves: CleanChoice Energy CTO Anthony Hoang hopes to use tech to boost decarbonization in the District". Technical.ly DC. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  14. ^ "Hackathon". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  15. ^ Rusli, Evelyn (April 4, 2012). "Heirs to Old Money Plunge Into Tech". The New York Times. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  16. ^ Empson, Rip (November 23, 2011). "AppBoy Raises A Cool Million To Let App Developers Better Engage And Understand Their User Base". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  17. ^ "This Startup Raked in $50 Million to Take on Salesforce". Fortune. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  18. ^ Umoh, Ruth (October 10, 2017). "This ex-Google employee says working at the tech giant helped inspire him to start his own business". CNBC. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  19. ^ a b Barry Levine (October 15, 2018). "Braze launches an app ecosystem with more than 45 integrations". MarTechToday. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
  20. ^ "Braze: How This Startup Grew Quickly Into A Marketing Automation Giant". Pulse 2.0. October 9, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  21. ^ "Daily Buzz: Is AMP for Email Ready for Prime Time?". Associations Now. October 31, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  22. ^ Alex Wilhelm. "Kicking off 2020 with 4 new members of the $100M ARR club". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  23. ^ "The 346 Best Places to Work in 2019". Inc. May 16, 2019. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  24. ^ Swant, Marty. "As Civil Rights Groups Ask Marketers To Boycott Facebook, Outdoor Brands Pause Spending". Forbes. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  25. ^ Williams, Colleen (July 6, 2020). "Several MarTech Firms to Give Away Free Services to Black-Founded Startups". AfroTech. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  26. ^ Council, Jared (September 21, 2020). "Behind Snowflake's Debut: Rising Data Demands". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  27. ^ "Braze Co-Founder & CEO, Bill Magnuson joins Rokt Board of Directors". MarTech Series. February 12, 2020. Retrieved July 7, 2021.
  28. ^ "Everything You Need to Know to Start and Grow Your Business". Inc.com. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  29. ^ Securities and Exchange Commission, United States (October 22, 2021). "Braze, Inc. 2021 Form S-1 Registration Statement". SEC.gov.
  30. ^ Page, Rosalyn (July 30, 2020). "CMO's top 8 martech stories for the week". www.cmo.com.au. Retrieved August 6, 2021.
  31. ^ Swant, Marty. "Senator Kirsten Gillibrand Introduces Bill To Create A Data Protection Agency". Forbes. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  32. ^ Kiesnoski, Kenneth (June 13, 2021). "Eager to travel, Americans book Sun Belt beach, city stays as pandemic fades". CNBC. Retrieved July 30, 2021.
  33. ^ "Braze Enhances Platform, Partners With Movable Ink". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
  34. ^ "Braze Integrates with Shopify". www.destinationcrm.com. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  35. ^ "America's Best Startup Employers 2021". Forbes. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  36. ^ "The Cloud 100 2021". Forbes. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  37. ^ Jepma, William (August 18, 2021). "Key Takeaways: The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Campaign Management (Independent Platforms), Q3 2021". Best Marketing Automation Software, Tools, Vendors & Solutions. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  38. ^ "Customer engagement platform Braze files for a $100 million IPO". Renaissance Capital. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  39. ^ Graham, Megan (November 17, 2021). "Braze Shares Soar in Market Debut". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  40. ^ Woelfel, Joe. "Braze Raises $520 Million as IPO Prices Above Expected Range". www.barrons.com. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  41. ^ "Survey: Bad customer experience kills brand loyalty quickly". Chain Store Age. Retrieved April 5, 2022.
  42. ^ "Report: US imports up 8% for 2020 - Ecommerce - BizReport". www.bizreport.com. Retrieved September 3, 2021.

External links

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braze,_Inc