Top 14 Messaging Unicorn Startups in 2021

Attentive

Attentive is a mobile messaging platform that provides marketing automation, social media engagement, and ecommerce solutions for innovative organizations.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$2.20
B (
September 2020
)
Country:
United States
City:
New York
Started in:
2016
Founders:
Andrew Jones, Brian Long, Ethan Lo
Industries:
Advertising, Marketing, Marketing Automation, Messaging, Mobile, Personalization, SaaS, Software
Number of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
$863,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
7
Number of investors:
19

You can find their website

here

Clubhouse

Clubhouse is the first audio-based social network that delivers newsworthy content to users spontaneously.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$4.00
B (
January 2021
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Francisco
Started in:
2020
Founders:
Paul Davison, Rohan Seth
Industries:
Apps, Messaging, Mobile Apps, Social
Number of employees:
10-50
Funding Amount:
$110,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
5
Number of investors:
8

You can find their website

here

Discord

Discord is the only Free and Secure All-in-one Voice+Text+Video App designed for gamers that’s trusted by over 38 million gamers.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$7.00
B (
April 2018
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Francisco
Started in:
2012
Founders:
Mikołaj Roszak, Stanislav Vishnevskiy
Industries:
Communities, Messaging, Social Network, Software, Video Chat
Number of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
$479,300,000
Number of funding rounds:
12
Number of investors:
20

You can find their website

here

GupShup

Gupshup is the original community platform that allows people to share short messages with their friends and family, in real time, from their phone or browser.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.40
B (
April 2021
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Francisco
Started in:
2004
Founders:
Beerud Sheth, Rakesh Mathur
Industries:
Information Services, Information Technology, Messaging, Video Chat
Number of employees:
100-250
Funding Amount:
$144,130,000
Number of funding rounds:
6
Number of investors:
8

You can find their website

here

Hike

Hike designs and develops mobile messaging applications that are intuitive, useful, and fun. It’s the app that helps you share life with more people in ways that are personal, spontaneous, and profound.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.40
B (
July 1905
)
Country:
India
City:
New Delhi
Started in:
2012
Founders:
Kavin Bharti Mittal
Industries:
Apps, Messaging, Mobile, Online Portals, Social Network
Number of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$261,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
5
Number of investors:
10

You can find their website

here

Infobip

Infobip is a simple and affordable platform for businesses to communicate with their customers in real time across multiple channels.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.00
B (
July 2020
)
Country:
United Kingdom
City:
London
Started in:
2006
Founders:
Izabel Jelenic, Roberto Kutic, Silvio Kutic
Industries:
Enterprise Software, Messaging, Telecommunications
Number of employees:
1,000-5,000
Funding Amount:
$200,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
1
Number of investors:
1

You can find their website

here

Intercom

Intercom is a customer engagement platform that helps you build better relationships with your target audience.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.28
B (
March 2018
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Francisco
Started in:
2011
Founders:
Ciaran Lee, David Barrett, Des Traynor, Eoghan McCabe
Industries:
Apps, CRM, Customer Service, Marketing Automation, Messaging, SaaS, Sales Automation, Software
Number of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
$291,820,000
Number of funding rounds:
9
Number of investors:
34

You can find their website

here

Loom

Loom helps organizations make communications better. It makes sharing and distributing video messages easy.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.53
B (
May 2021
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Francisco
Started in:
2016
Founders:
Joe Thomas, Shahed Khan, Vinay Hiremath
Industries:
Enterprise Software, Messaging, Video
Number of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$203,550,000
Number of funding rounds:
7
Number of investors:
23

You can find their website

here

Maimai

Maimai provides a professional, high-quality service as a career and social-networking platform with the aim of helping the professional development of students.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.00
B (
November 2017
)
Country:
China
City:
Beijing
Started in:
2013
Founders:
Fan Lin
Industries:
Apps, Enterprise Software, Internet, Messaging
Number of employees:
50-100
Funding Amount:
$300,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
4
Number of investors:
4

You can find their website

here

MessageBird

MessageBird is a cloud communications platform that seamlessly integrates high-quality messaging, voice and video, reducing costs and improving customer satisfaction around the world.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$3.00
B (
October 2020
)
Country:
The Netherlands
City:
Amsterdam
Started in:
2011
Founders:
Adriaan Mol, Robert Vis
Industries:
Cloud Computing, Enterprise Software, Messaging, Telecommunications
Number of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$1,100,120,000
Number of funding rounds:
5
Number of investors:
14

You can find their website

here

Podium

Podium is a customer communication platform for businesses who interact with customers on a local level. It’s designed to help them communicate directly with their customers through e-newsletters and answering their questions, comments and suggestions in real time.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.50
B (
April 2020
)
Country:
United States
City:
Lehi
Started in:
2014
Founders:
Dennis Steele, Eric Rea
Industries:
Consumer Reviews, Local Business, Messaging, Reputation, SaaS, Small and Medium Businesses, Software
Number of employees:
500-1,000
Funding Amount:
$218,120,000
Number of funding rounds:
6
Number of investors:
10

You can find their website

here

Sendbird

Sendbird is a provider of messaging-as-a-service APIs for mobile apps, websites and other platforms.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.05
B (
April 2021
)
Country:
United States
City:
San Mateo
Started in:
2013
Founders:
Brandon Y Jeon, Forest Lee, Harry Kim, John S. Kim
Industries:
Developer APIs, Messaging, Mobile, Video Chat
Number of employees:
100-250
Funding Amount:
$220,720,000
Number of funding rounds:
7
Number of investors:
19

You can find their website

here

Symphony Communication Services

Symphony is a cloud-based collaboration platform that brings your team together so everyone can seamlessly connect, communicate, share and work from anywhere. It’s secure. It’s compliant. And it’s easy to you use.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.40
B (
May 2017
)
Country:
United States
City:
Palo Alto
Started in:
2014
Founders:
David Gurle
Industries:
Information Services, Information Technology, Messaging, Software, Unified Communications
Number of employees:
250-500
Funding Amount:
$461,000,000
Number of funding rounds:
6
Number of investors:
32

You can find their website

here

Tango

Tango Live provides a live mobile video platform to connect businesses and individuals with their followers and customers. As a global leader, they work with some of the world’s most recognizable names including Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo, Sharpie, and more.

Details of the startup:

Valuation:
$1.10
B (
March 2014
)
Country:
United States
City:
Mountain View
Started in:
2009
Founders:
Eric Setton, Uri Raz
Industries:
Android, Apps, iOS, Messaging, Mobile, Social Network, Video Streaming
Number of employees:
100-250
Funding Amount:
$369,247,364
Number of funding rounds:
5
Number of investors:
12

You can find their website

here