Salesforce has recently announced that it is acquiring Rebel, which is an interactive email company that will be integrated into its Marketing and Commerce Cloud division. Specifically, Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud operation will be integrating Rebel’s API-based services into its platform. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.
What does it mean by interactive email? It means that users who receive emails can write reviews, buy products, or perform other actions without leaving the emails.
“With Rebel’s Mail and API solutions, brands, including Dollar Shave Club, L’Oreal and HelloFresh, turn emails into an extension of their website or app – collecting data, removing friction from the conversion process, and enhancing the customer experience. Rebel will enhance the power of Salesforce Marketing Cloud and fundamentally change the way people interact with email,” wrote the founders in a statement. “We would like to thank the email community, the forward-thinking brands we have worked with over the years, our partners, and everyone that has been part of Rebel’s success. We are thrilled to become part of the amazing Salesforce family and continue the journey.”
Salesforce has made some aggressive acquisitions in the last few years including ExactTarget for $2.5 billion in 2013. And Adobe bought Marketo for $4.75 billion earlier this year as a counter Salesforce’s purchase of ExactTarget. Prior to the acquisition, Rebel had partnerships in place with Adobe, IBM, Oracle, SailThru, Salesforce, and SendGrid.
Rebel was originally started under the name Rebelmail by Joe Teplow and Trever Faden. Rebel previously raised $3 million from investors such as Gary Vaynerchuk, Lerer Hippeau, Sinai Ventures, David Tisch, Clark Valberg, Carsten Thoma, Allen Nance, and Courtside Ventures, Ore Ventures, Transcendent Holdings, Deep Fork Capital, and several others.
