Dundee tech business Kumulos hopes to double its workforce this year after its acquisition by an Israeli-based firm.
Kumulos’ mobile app messaging and management platform is trusted by thousands of app developers across the globe.
It is used by the men’s professional tennis tour to help engage fans.
The firm started life as part of Dundee mobile app developer Waracle as a tool to help developers build and launch mobile apps faster.
Now, it has been bought for an undisclosed sum by Optimove.
The firm was set up in 2009 and has offices in Tel Aviv and New York.
Optimove serves more than 500 brands, including JD Sports, Papa John’s among others.
Over the past six months, Optimove has raised more than £50m funding to grow its platform development.
Through mergers and acquisitions, its workforce has grown to 340.
‘It felt right’ says Dundee tech firm boss
Co-founder Mark Petrie said: “For us it’s a natural fit. From the very first meeting we had with Optimove, it was clear we think the same way.
“When software companies are acquired it’s about the technology and the people.
“We’re really excited about working together.”
He said now felt like the right time: “There is no overlap from what we do so it’s a really natural fit.
“One way to think of it is Optimove is the brain, so they control all the campaigns, and we are the muscle that executes them.
“From the very earliest meetings, it was clear we saw the world the same way.
“It is a great endorsement and it felt right.”
Kumulos founder ‘excited’ about next steps
Mr Petrie will become director of engineering for mobile services.
Bob Lawson, co-founder of Kumulos, will assume the role of director of mobile offering.
The existing eight staff at Kumulos will all transfer to Optimove.
“We’re very excited about the next step for us,” Mr Petrie said.
“This has been a huge endorsement for the team and the technology.
“Being part of Optimove allows us to put that technology into the hands of more customers, which we’re really excited about.
“It’s also a vote of confidence in the tech industry here in Dundee.
“They have offices all around the world but they are planning to invest heavily and grow the research and development functions here.”
One new software developer has joined the business recently. Mr Petrie hopes another six will be added “in the next couple of months”.
He said more recruitment will follow by the end of the year.
Dundee tech firm a ‘natural fit’
Optimove founder Pini Yakuel said: “Our accelerated growth has been driven by building the most powerful orchestration ‘brain’ in the market on top of our CDP.
“To support our next stage of growth, we will continue to add expanded capabilities to help marketers reach customers in many different ways.
“We already do this in email and Kumulos was a natural fit to offer this across mobile marketing as they provide an easy way to build out sophisticated mobile and web campaigns.”
