Automattic, the owner of WordPress and Tumblr, has acquired the all-in-one messaging app Texts.com for $50 million (€47 million). The purpose of the acquisition is to accelerate the messaging app’s development.
The acquisition gives Automattic an all-in-one messaging app that merges several other messaging apps. Texts.com merges messages from different messaging apps into a single inbox in a single dashboard.
Users can read and reply to the various messages from this single environment without having to switch messages to individual apps all the time.
Multiple messaging apps
Messaging apps integrated into Texts.com include iMessage, Slack, WhatsApp, Instagram, Telegram, Messenger, LinkedIn, Signal, Discord and X (Twitter). Other messaging apps will be added in the future.
The Texts.com app costs $15 a month for consumers and $30 a month for businesses. Not all messaging services are supported for all operating systems.
With the purchase of Texts.com, Automattic wants to enter a fourth market segment; messaging. The company already owns WordPress and Tumblr. It is also active in the e-commerce market with Woocommerce.
Personal frustration and continued development
As another reason for the acquisition, Automattic owner Matt Mullenweg says it came partly out of personal frustration, he reveals in the Pivot podcast. He had long wanted a single app with which to use all his messaging services.
In addition, he wanted the app so he could develop it faster. In his view, big tech companies just can’t do this and a smaller company like Automattic is much better at it.
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