Meta has spun out Kustomer on a $250MN valuation, which represents just a quarter of the $1BN it paid for the CRM vendor in February 2022.
New investors include Battery Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, and Redpoint Ventures.
Kustomer announced the move in a blog post, describing the deal as its "next chapter as an independent company."
In the piece, Brad Birnbaum, CEO of Kustomer, stated:
Our journey with Meta has been amazing, and we are proud of the work we accomplished together to transform how businesses support their customers.
Birnbaum went on to pinpoint how Meta supported Kustomer in expanding its international offerings, strengthening its AI, and deepening its connections with various social channels.
Yet, in funding these activities, reports suggest Meta burned through $200MN – which did little to stop Kustomer’s valuation from dwindling.
Of course, plummeting market valuations is a CX tech provider trend that goes far beyond Kustomer and Meta now that the pandemic-fuelled investor optimism has come to a jarring halt.
Nevertheless, Meta has decided to cut its considerable losses, bringing its fleeting experiment to create an enterprise-ready customer service platform to a quick-fire conclusion.
A Deal That Missed the Mark
In recent years, Meta has prioritized the growth of its messaging channels, particularly WhatsApp.
As its recent moves in Brazil suggest, the social media pioneer aims to make the channel a place for consumers to find, communicate with, and buy from businesses.
Indeed, Meta hopes WhatsApp will become the home of many new customer journeys.
With Kustomer being a CRM platform, it could have stripped insights from these journeys, allowing companies to store, manage, and action more data.
As such, Meta might have had a significant differentiator in the CRM market.
Now, that vision may still materialize. Yet, seemingly not fast enough for Meta to see the value of clinging onto Kustomer – particularly during its much-publicized "period of efficiency."
