Wilmington Del., September 2023 - Rocket.Chat, a startup that provides an open-source chat platform, announces an investment of US$ 10 million. The Series A “bridge” was led by Alexia Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor Scaleup Ventures, Bob Young (Founder of RedHat), NEA and Valor Capital Group, in addition to investors such as Greycroft, Monashees, DGF, and Graphene. The new investment will be directed to the Research & Development area and also to boost the startup's commercial expansion. The company had already raised US$ 19 million in February 2021.
Founded in 2016, Rocket.Chat is a Commercial Open Source Software (COSS) company with a recurring revenue model. The platform offers a free version with limited functionality and scalability, as well as a paid option with premium features and full scalability. Customers can also opt for add-on capabilities such as dedicated hosting and professional services.
With a secure and compliant platform developed for organizations that need more control over their communications, Rocket.Chat allows for collaboration between colleagues, across organizations (through bridges, such as MS Teams or federated servers) and with customers (via channels of their choice, such as live chat or WhatsApp). The platform allows its users to maintain ownership of their conversations, offering diverse hosting options, and adhering to strict security and compliance standards, including SOC2, GDPR, and HIPAA.
“We are extremely excited to announce this new round with large investors who have been following the development of our platform”, says Gabriel Engel, CEO of Rocket.Chat. “We want to increasingly expand our services around the world, making our platform accessible to everyone. We know how important means of communication are within companies and we have built quality technology to offer security and scalability to our customers”, he adds.
Extensibility is one of Rocket.Chat's marks, with a marketplace of pre-built apps, integrations and cutting-edge technology that allows users to create their custom requirements in a matter of weeks. Additionally, the company's chat infrastructure is fully embeddable, allowing customers to add these features to their products.
With over 15 million users in active deployments, Rocket.Chat is in over 150 countries, especially in highly regulated, security-centric industries such as government, healthcare, financial services, education, and critical infrastructure. The company has customers around the world, focusing on the United States, Western Europe, Japan, and Brazil markets. Its portfolio includes big names such as the US Navy, Continental, Audi, Deutsche Bahn, The Aerospace Corporation, the Government of British Columbia, and the University of Cologne.
"Rocket.Chat has a proven communication platform that combines security with a wide-ranging feature set. This is what has attracted customers throughout the world,” says Antoine Colaço, Partner at Valor Capital Group. “With security needs only increasing, we see a growing opportunity for Rocket.Chat, which is why we’re excited to continue to support the business."
To further democratize access to the platform's premium features, the company is launching two new plans starting with version 6.5, scheduled for later this year: The Free plan will offer free and unlimited access to almost all premium features with limited scale use, and the Pro plan, will offer an attractive new paid option, giving users more choice and flexibility.
“We’ve been following Rocket.Chat closely since 2017. Given the go-to-market opportunities ahead of Rocket.Chat in 2023, we were strongly compelled to lead the latest investment round. We’re strong believers that Rocket.Chat’s growth will continue to accelerate as it becomes the world’s leading open-source collaboration platform. We are delighted to join Rocket.Chat's stellar team and investors”, says Patrick Arippol, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at Alexia Venture.
The company currently has 128 employees and its leadership team includes Gabriel Engel (founder and CEO), Bruno Weiblen (Regional Manager), Christopher Skelly (CPO), Alan Wright (vice president of operations), and Bruno Bin (Vice President of Marketing).
"I love supporting projects like Rocket.Chat. Rocket.Chat’s open source model ensures open, secure, and decentralized communications, all wrapped in a simple intuitive user interface. Rocket.Chat is an investment in a future where individuals and organizations can communicate freely, securely, and without compromising their, and their users, data. Rocket.Chat is another important step towards a more open and inclusive digital world”, Robert Young, Manager at Red Hat.
About Rocket.Chat
Rocket.Chat is a technology startup that offers a secure and compliant open-source chat platform for companies and organizations around the world. Founded in 2016 and with more than 15 million users in 150 countries around the world, Rocket.Chat is a market leader and aims to provide total control over communications, ensuring security and compliance for its customers. For more information, visit the website.
About Alexia Ventures
Alexia Ventures is an early-stage investor for founders of transformative software and A.I. technology companies emerging from Latin America. Its main ambition is to constantly strive to be among the highest value-add investors, at a global level. Founded amidst the pandemic, Alexia Ventures gathers a network of founders and thought leaders who've worked together over the past 20 years, helping founders to create category leaders while taking the investor-founder relationship to new levels. For more information please visit www.alexia.vc.
About Valor Capital Group
Founded in 2011 and present in New York, Silicon Valley, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Mexico City, Valor Capital is a Venture Capital and Growth Equity fund manager pioneer in the "cross-border" strategy as a bridge between the technology markets of the United States and Latin America. Their funds invest in transformative businesses, from early-stage startups to expansion stages. Valor is committed to the success of its investments, putting itself at the service of its entrepreneurs, providing capital, operational support, and global connections. Learn more at valorcapitalgroup.com.
