Netherlands-based conversational commerce platform CM.com announced on Tuesday that it has completed the acquisition of Tilburg-based consumer AI technology company Building Blocks. The Dutch company had, in December, 2021, agreed to the acquisition.
The deal has been made through a combination of cash and equity. The cash consideration amounts to €6.9M. The equity consideration will consist of 129,787 ordinary shares in the share capital of CM.com. The shares will be purchased by CM.com NV in the open market in the following weeks.
“A deep understanding of individual consumer needs”
Founded in 2013, Building Blocks combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) software and services to empower its customers to build relevant and personalised interactions across the customer journey, thereby enhancing the customer experience and boosting business results.
The company has offices in the Netherlands and approximately 40 employees. Its suite of Consumer AI solutions focuses on consumer guidance, consumer engagement and consumer care. Building Blocks’ customer portfolio covers select consumer verticals and includes renowned brands such as Samsung, Basic-Fit, Corendon, and Sligro, among others.
In an earlier statement, Alexander van Eerden, CEO of Building Blocks, says, “In the past 8 years we completely focused on delivering value to our clients. That’s what we see at CM.com as well. Combining the CM.com solutions with our data science software and data science services creates a highly competitive SaaS-based product for any customer that is maximising consumer value. In addition, the scale and international footprint of CM.com will enable us to accelerate our growth ambitions and get to our ambition to positively impact 1 billion people with our AI.”
Aim of this acquisition
CM.com claims it acquired Building Blocks to take its conversational commerce to the next level.
Over the past three years, the Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) of Building Blocks increased on average by 97 per cent per year, and currently adds up to nearly €4M. As a result, the acquisition will support CM.com’s strategy to increase its ARR and core gross margin.
Similar to previous acquisitions, CM.com believes Building Blocks’ technology is perfectly suited for international expansion. For example, RobinHQ’s technology, acquired in October 2020, has been incorporated into CM.com’s Mobile Service Cloud within a year and is now offered in 15 countries.
About CM.com
Founded in 1999 by Jeroen van Glabbeek and Gilbert Gooijer, the company connects people and businesses via telecom operators, worldwide payment providers and messaging channels. It is a listed company (Euronext Amsterdam: CMCOM) and provides conversational commerce services from its cloud platform.
The company offers solutions needed for mobile engagement and interaction with its target audience. It includes SMS, Over The Top (OTT) (e.g. WhatsApp Business, Apple Business Chat, Google RCS, Facebook Messenger, and Viber), Voice API, and SIP. These messaging channels can be combined with cloud platform features like Ticketing, eSignature, Customer Contact, identity services, and a Customer Data Platform.
Currently, the company employs about 550 people in 20 countries.
Some of CM.com’s recent acquisitions include TraceDock, a privacy-friendly first-party data collection service acquired in July, 2021. With this acquisition, the company wanted its customers to further optimise their contact with unknown website visitors.
Prior to that, in March, 2021, the Dutch company acquired Amsterdam’s PayPlaza, a point of sale (POS) payment acceptance platform. According to CM.com, the acquisition forms the next step for it to offer omnichannel communications and payments solutions from one single platform.
