Startup profile · funding coverage
Braze funding, valuation and investors
Publicly traded real-time customer engagement platform spanning mobile, email and web; proposed Salesforce acquisition announced October 2026.
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Funding, valuation & investors
Answer-first snapshotLatest funding
Series E
$80M · October 2018
Latest known valuation
$850M post-money
Series E · October 2018
Total disclosed equity funding
$150M
Excludes debt, grants, acquisitions, secondaries, and IPO proceeds.
Current status
public
public · New York, New York
Investors in latest funding
Lead: Meritech Capital Partners
Other: Spark Capital , Cross Creek , Battery Ventures , ICONIQ
Latest tracked event: Proposed acquisition announced (not closed) (October 2026). It is shown separately because it is not counted as disclosed equity funding.
Overview
Braze (formerly Appboy) is a New York customer engagement software company founded in 2011 by Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian. Its platform uses live customer events to coordinate personalized messages across mobile apps, email, SMS, web and other channels. Braze raised an $80M Series E led by Meritech Capital in October 2018 at an $850M valuation and completed a Nasdaq IPO at $65 a share in November 2021.
On October 20, 2026, Salesforce announced an agreement to buy Braze for approximately $5.66 billion in enterprise value, with $47.50 cash consideration per share. As of October 26, the deal is NOT closed; Braze remains a public company pending shareholder and regulatory approvals.
Why Braze is interesting
A New York martech startup that raised an $80M Series E at an $850M valuation in 2018, listed publicly in 2021 and agreed to a Salesforce acquisition valuing the enterprise at about $5.66B in October 2026. The deal remains pending.
Product & use cases
Braze ingests consumer behavior events, unifies real-time profiles, designs multi-step journeys and delivers cross-channel messages in mobile apps, push, SMS, email and web. BrazeAI products add experimentation, decisioning and content optimization. Buyers typically include lifecycle marketing, CRM, product-growth and data teams.
- App lifecycle messaging, onboarding and re-engagement
- Real-time personalization tied to browsing or purchase behavior
- Cross-channel customer journeys spanning push, in-app, SMS and email
- Retention and loyalty communications with warehouse-backed data
- AI-assisted offer and campaign decisioning
Key facts
- October 20, 2026: Salesforce announces definitive agreement to acquire Braze for approximately $5.66B enterprise value; $47.50 per share cash; NOT YET CLOSED
- Quarter ended July 31, 2026: $227.2M revenue, +26.2% YoY; $21.7M free cash flow
- 2018 Series E: $80M, led by Meritech Capital, at $850M post-money valuation
- November 2021: $65-per-share Nasdaq IPO under BRZE
- Founded as Appboy in 2011; renamed Braze in 2017
Funding history (newest first)
Proposed acquisition announced (not closed)
2026-10 ~$5.66B enterprise value- Salesforce (lead)
Source: Read source · salesforce.com
IPO (NASDAQ: BRZE)
2021-11Series E
2018-10 $80M Valuation: $850M post-money- Meritech Capital Partners (lead)
- Spark Capital (participant)
- Cross Creek (participant)
- Battery Ventures (participant)
- ICONIQ (participant)
Source: Read source · braze.com
Investors in our directory
Funds linked from Braze's profile — open a fund page for stage focus and related deal articles.
Competitive landscape
Edge: Event-streaming design, strong mobile/application messaging and integrations with modern data warehouses; cross-channel orchestration is the core product rather than an add-on to a traditional CRM database.
The 2026 proposed Salesforce transaction is strategically about strengthening real-time, mobile-first engagement within Salesforce's broader CRM, Data 360 and AI stack. The opportunity is cross-selling and coordinated customer experiences; the risk is whether Braze remains open and data-stack-neutral after integration. Salesforce's $5.66B enterprise-value headline is not the same as per-share equity consideration or cash ultimately distributed to a given investor. Closing depends on shareholder and regulatory approval.
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Salesforce Marketing Cloud incumbent
Potential acquirer and incumbent suite that historically overlapped in marketing orchestration.
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Adobe Experience Platform direct
Enterprise customer-experience, profile and journey orchestration platform.
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Klaviyo direct
Commerce-oriented customer engagement and marketing automation alternative.
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Iterable direct
Cross-channel lifecycle marketing and messaging vendor.
Notable stories
- Founded as Appboy following a 2011 meeting among Bill Magnuson, Jon Hyman and Mark Ghermezian.
- Renamed Braze in October 2017 as the product expanded beyond mobile applications.
- Salesforce announced a definitive takeover agreement on October 20, 2026, but approval and closing remain ahead.
Industries
Market / IPO context
Ticker: BRZE (NASDAQ)
IPO status: public
IPO date: 2021-11
Note: October 20, 2026 announced transaction enterprise value approx. $5.66B, offered $47.50 per share cash. Proposed transaction pending as of Oct 26; not a completed exit.
Editorial / static context — not a live quote.
FAQs about Braze
Practical answers founders, operators, and investors typically search for.
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