Facebook takes over the Redkix courier company to strengthen the workplace

Dive Brief:

• Facebook has announced plans to acquire Redkix, an Israeli courier company, according to VentureBeat. Redkix will join Facebook's Workplace Collaborative Platform.
• Redkix is ​​working on creating an interface that can link emails, chat and other features more seamlessly. In an example cited by VentureBeat, users could respond to direct messages by email or via the Redkix app. The company recently raised $ 17 million in venture capital.
• Facebook launched Workplace publicly in 2016 to compete with enterprise software collaboration tools like Slack and Hipchat. In October, the workplace had 30,000 business users, while Slack had 70,000 paid group users in May. Microsoft Teams, another player in the space, had 200,000 groups that used its platform in March.

Dive Insight:

With Workplace, Facebook hoped to strengthen its presence in the business technology sector, hoping its social media platform among employees and users will enhance the attractiveness of product. The acquisition of Redkix indicates that Facebook recognizes that users will need additional integrations across channels, including email, to meet all the communication needs of their businesses. Facebook has not provided details on the integration of Redkix. Facebook has previously unveiled new integrations of SaaS and Workplace robots in May, by VentureBeat.

The acquisition could help strengthen Workplace's positioning at a key moment. Atlbadian, owner of Stride and HipChat, announced this week its intention to sell business communications services to rival company Slack. Workplace is a similar subscription service, and Facebook does not sell ads on the platform.

Researcher Gartner predicts that spending on computer solutions, including enterprise software, could reach $ 3.7 trillion this year. For Facebook, the market offers the opportunity to search for new sources of revenue beyond its advertising-funded social network, facing slower advertising growth and has been rocked by controversy, including the Cambridge Privacy Scandal. Analytica.

Earlier this week, Facebook reported revenues of $ 13.2 billion for the second quarter of 2018, an increase of 42% from one year to the next. Its average price per ad increased 17% and ad impressions increased 21%, with ad-driven growth in Instagram and Facebook feeds. However, the company's growth decelerated by about 7 percentage points compared to the first quarter. Facebook has finally missed the estimates of Wall Streets, reducing the company's market value by $ 151 billion at one point – a historic collapse of the value of a US-listed company into a only day, according to Bloomberg.