Dutch software firm MessageBird rebrands as Bird, slashes prices

Reuters
·1 min read
Visitors attend the MessageBird messaging platform booth at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Privately held Dutch cloud communications software company MessageBird said on Thursday it has rebranded as "Bird" and is cutting prices to well below those of U.S. rival Twilio in a bid to win market share.

"Today we are ... taking our margins to zero," CEO Robert Vis said in a blog post on the company's new domain

A spokesperson said the company could not comment beyond the blog statement.

Bird helps companies manage their communications with consumers via all channels -- messaging apps, phone calls, video calls, online chats and email.

A source familiar with the company said Bird registered EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, of around 80 million euros ($87 million)in 2023. The company is weighing an IPO on the Euronext stock exchange in 2024 or 2025.

In 2021 Bird raised $800 million from investors including Eurazeo, Tiger Global and Owl Rock and purchased email giant SparkPost in a deal worth $600 million.

($1 = 0.9200 euros)

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Susan Fenton)