Wishpond acquires SMS marketing firm Winback.chat for $700,000

Two people holding cellphones
Wishpond has now made two asset acquisitions from AtlasMind

Vancouver-based Wishpond has acquired Winback.chat from AtlasMind Inc. for $700,000 USD in cash. With the deal closed on December, this marks Wishpond’s fourth acquisition in 2021.

Headquartered in New York, Winback provides automated SMS marketing solutions, including a cart abandonment tool for Shopify merchants that can be installed with a single click.

Winback’s technology is deployed when a shopper browses but doesn’t add anything to their cart. The company claims its customers have seen an up to 35x return on their investment using Winback tech.

Founded in 2009, Wishpond is a digital marketing solutions startup that offers a suite of cloud-based applications and services for business growth.

Since its inception, Wishpond has expanded its technology suite to include a lead generation platform, an email marketing platform, and marketing automation system. It currently claims a customer base of over 3,000, which are primarily small-to-medium sized businesses.

With the purchase of Winback, this is the second set of assets Wishpond has acquired from AtlasMind. In August, it also acquired ad management platform Brax.io for $2 million USD.

RELATED: Wishpond secures $6 million revolving credit from National Bank to fuel acquisition strategy

To fuel its acquisitive strategy, Wishpond secured a $6 million revolving operating line from the National Bank of Canada’s Technology and Innovation Banking Group in September.

With over 350 monthly paying customers, Winback generates an annual revenue run rate exceeding $450,000 USD. Most of its client base is in the United States, which Wishpond claims aligns with its targeted growth plans.

As a result of the acquisition, Winback will continue to maintain its own brand and client relationships, while Wishpond will provide operational support.

Prior to starting Wishpond, CEO Ali Tajskandar ​​worked as a software engineer in a number of high-tech startups including SoundLogic (acquired by Lucent), Seance Software, and Bitspan Network.

Wishpond has made a number of acquisitions in the past, including San Mateo, California-based SaaS startup PersistIQ for $3 million USD, consisting of equal parts cash, common shares, and a one-year earn-out based on PersistIQ’s revenue.

The TSX Venture Exchange-listed startup also purchased Invigo, a Surrey-based marketing technology company focused on serving medical clinics, where Wishpond agreed to pay $835,000 upfront, plus a two-year performance earn-out. Wishpond is also listed on the OTCQX Best Market under ‘WPNDF.’

In June, Wishpond entered a partnership with Stukent, an Idaho-based company that provides digital courseware to integrate Wishpond’s technology on Stukent’s platform and introduce digital marketing and social media assignments.

Charlize Alcaraz

Charlize Alcaraz

Charlize Alcaraz is a staff writer for BetaKit.

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