Are Twilio’s layoffs a sign of struggle for the CPaaS space?
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It's going down
The $9B communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) company went on a hiring spree that drove its headcount up to nearly 9,000 employees in summer 2022.
It’s dropped 15% over the past 6 months.
CB Insights customers can get a deep dive on the CPaaS market here.
Other CPaaS players like Bird and Sendbird (both unicorns with $1B+ valuations) have also been reducing their headcount recently.
These vendors offer APIs that allow businesses to power conversations across channels like email, messaging, and voice as well as integrate customer engagement features directly into their websites or mobile apps.
Looking at Yardstiq interviews, this Infobip customer we spoke with in August 2022 indicated that pressure in the space is driving better pricing and deals.
MessageBird matches current Infobip customer pricing
But not all CPaaS companies have been downsizing.
For example, Gupshup has quadrupled its employee count over the last 2 years to nearly 900.
We previously looked at the growing crop of companies making it easier for companies to communicate with their customers.
To understand the competition, we talked to buyers who evaluated solutions including:
Download our 1-pager to compare top omnichannel communications (CPaaS) vendors at a glance.
Looking ahead
New GTM strategy for Twilio ?
We break down how headcount, valuation, and revenue metrics are trending for business communication platforms like Twilio, MessageBird, and Sendbird in this analysis.
In Other News
The company is now valued at a reported $250M — a steep discount to its Series E round as well as to Meta’s $1B purchase price in 2020.
This customer highlights Kustomer’s road ahead may be bumpy in this recent Yardstiq transcript.
Kustomer buyer is unsure about renewal, despite 8/10 customer satisfaction
This is the last edition of the The Transcript on LinkedIn. Don't miss out and make sure you subscribe to the CB Insights Newsletter to get it straight to your inbox — sign up here.