• Mavenir is on the M&A trail again
• This time its target is Telestax
• Cloud-based comms platform specialist’s tech to enhance Mavenir’s Engage portfolio  

Mavenir has once again opened its wallet to accelerate its portfolio development with the acquisition of existing partner Telestax, a Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) technology specialist, for an undisclosed sum.

Austin, Texas-based Telestax is no fledgling: It has been around since 2011 developing open source communications API (application programming interface) and messaging platform technology, and counts the likes of Proximus, Telin (PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International), Zain, NEC and MetTel as customers and partners. 

In total, Telestax has 35 communications service provider (CSP) customers using its Restcomm platform (which is run via four PoPs located in the US, Europe, India and Japan) and more than 4,000 companies making use of its CPaaS capabilities such as programmable messaging, call queueing, two-factor authentication, interactive voice response (IVR) tools and more, according to Mavenir.

Other details are harder to come by: In addition to keeping the purchase price a secret, Mavenir won’t say how many staff will join its ranks as a result of the deal (though it says all Telestax are transferring), or what kind of revenues the CPaaS company generates (and whether it is profitable).

Mavenir says the Telestax technology will enhance its existing Engage messaging monetization and customer engagement offerings by providing CSPs with “agile, nimble” software-as-a-service models that can be deployed and enhanced quickly, with specialization for vertical sectors, to meet the needs of business customers. Engage provides CSPs, systems integrators and channel partners with RCS Business Messaging (RBM), messaging monetization capabilities, chatbots, campaign management and access to other messaging ecosystems such as Google RCS Business Messaging.

And it appears such functionality is in increasing demand: According to 451 Research, the CPaaS market was worth $6.5 billion in 2020, having grown by 40% year-on-year, and is set to be worth $21 billion in 2025.  

For more on the deal, see this Mavenir announcement.

This isn’t Mavenir’s only strategic acquisition during the past year: In September 2020 it announced the acquisition of small cell specialist ip.access for $15.6 million to boost its enterprise and Open RAN capabilities. (See Mavenir buys ip.access to boost Open RAN, enterprise portfolio.)

- Ray Le Maistre, Editorial Director, TelecomTV