Facebook Acquires Israeli Messaging Platform Startup Redkix For $100M

The Israeli startup RedKix, which developed a collaboration platform that combines email, messaging and calendar features, announced on Thursday that it was acquired by tech giant Facebook. In an online post, Redkix said it will join Facebook’s Workplace team, the company’s enterprise version and its answer to the popular collaboration service Slack.

The details of the transaction were not disclosed but the Israeli press reported that the deal was valued at some $100 million.

Facebook launched Workplace in 2016 to bring its social network offering to the business world and “transform communications, culture and workflows inside organizations of all shapes, sizes and industries.”

Redkix was founded in 2014 by brothers Oudi Antebi and Roy Antebi, and it has offices in Tel Aviv and in San Mateo, California. RedKix was advancing a messaging and collaboration solution for the workplace featuring email, messaging, groups and channels to allow people to organize messages into group channels, from favorite people and per topic.

Oudi and Roy Antebi, founders of Redkix. Courtesy

It raised $17 million in 2016 in a seed funding round led by a group of investors, including Salesforce Ventures.

In a post on the Redkix website, the founders wrote that as a result of the acquisition, their “current application will wind down.”

“When we launched our enterprise application, our vision was to build a centralized, inclusive, and modern platform for work. By embracing email as part of the solution, we set out to open up participation, eliminate silos, and connect everyone at a company. As a result, we’ve seen how companies thrive when people work together,” they said.

“Bringing people closer together is at the core of Facebook,” they wrote. “Workplace brings this mission to enterprises to make them more connected and productive.”

They said that Rekix is “aligned with their vision and excited to work with them to help companies collaborate and get work done,” adding that they were “thankful to our customers, partners and team for their support and help along the journey so far.”

Redkix is Facebook’s fifth acquisition in Israel. Prior acquisitions in the Startup Nation include mobile app platform Snaptu for $70 million in 2011, Tel Aviv facial recognition tech company Face.com for $100 million in 2012, motion sensor recognition company Pebbles for $60 million in 2015, and Israeli analytics company Onavo now known as Facebook Israel for $150 million in 2013.

Last month, the Israeli press reported that a senior executive from Facebook’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) team, Amin Zoufonoun, was in Israel on a business trip.