CRM Startup Kustomer in the focus of Facebook

Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) is in the process of acquiring Kustomer, a customer relationship management startup valued at nearly $ 1 billion. The New York-based CRM startup has raised nearly $ 170 million in venture funding. The acquisition will enable the network giant to provide businesses and customers with customer interaction support in its flagship and other apps. More than 175 million people contact companies through Facebook apps, led by Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The deal is about providing better products for customers. Kustomer was founded in 2010 and is now simplifying the back-end of software used by many Fortune 500 companies. The company has already presented itself as an alternative to traditional customer service software companies. A partnership with Facebook should help Kustomer support millions of business conversations, most of which take place on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Most of all, Kustomer's offering would be a perfect boon for WhatsApp, which has more than 1 billion users and has expanded to business messaging services in the past few months. WhatsApp has already unveiled a business-focused app that helps improve business activity across apps. In India, for example, millions of people buy smartphones using the WhatsApp app. Conversely, Kustomer's customer relationship management services would help create closer relationships between customers and companies. The need for better digital relationships has grown significantly after the pandemic. As the pandemic restricted direct interactions, most people had to buy goods at home and communicate with businesses virtually. While it has been widely accepted that most people would resort to buying goods online and virtually communicating with customers, COVID-19 has accelerated this. Similarly, companies no longer invest in expensive shop windows and retail locations. Instead, the focus has shifted to investing in digital tools and experiences.