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In an effort to ramp up its software offering for hybrid workplaces, Australian-founded tech giant Atlassian Corporation (NASDAQ: TEAM) has announced it has acquired video messaging platform Loom for US$975 million ($1.5 billion).
Founded in 2016 by Joe Thomas and Vinay Hiremath, San Francisco-based Loom allows users to simultaneously record their desktop screen, camera, and microphone. The platform also offers AI-powered video editing tools that generate titles, summaries, chapters, tasks and can remove silence or filler words.
The buyout will see Loom’s features integrated into Atlassian’s platform, allowing customers to transition between video, video transcripts, summaries, documents, and other workflows.
Asynchronous (async) video - a feature that allows video recordings or screen-shared videos to be distributed across teams - has been a key service offered by Loom, with its users recording almost 5 million videos per month.
According to Loom’s website, the San Francisco-based company currently services more than 21 million users globally across 200,000-plus companies. Clients on its roster include corporate giants such as Amazon, Apple, Disney, Ford, Mercedes-Benz, Warner Brothers and Ticketmaster.
“Async video is the next evolution of team collaboration, and teaming up with Loom helps distributed teams communicate in deeply human ways,” Atlassian co-founder and co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes said.
Under the agreement, Atlassian will fork out US$880 million (AUD$1.3 billion) in cash for the company, with the remainder of the deal covered by stock.
Following Loom’s integration, engineers will be able to visually log issues in Jira – a bug tracking and project management software, while leaders can use videos to connect with employees at scale.
Since it was founded seven years ago, Loom has raised US$203 million ($321 million) from a plethora of venture capital firms, including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, Iconic, and Coatue.
“Loom’s vision is to empower everyone at work to communicate more effectively wherever they are, and by joining Atlassian, we can accelerate their mission to unleash the potential of every team,” Thomas said.
”We’re excited to weave video into collaboration in a way that only Loom and Atlassian can.”
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of Atlassian’s fiscal year 2024, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approval.
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