ReKindle is HubSpot’s first ever acquisition as a public company

25 Mar 2015

Digital marketing company HubSpot has just bought up Rekindle, marking its first foray into acquiring companies since going public.

ReKindle’s app seems to work a bit like Tinder, in that you swipe through potential meet ups, but it drags in information from other social media services to find people you may already know.

Users’ email addresses and phone numbers remain hidden, and people have to opt in to take part, which helps you drastically reduce the amount of mindless connections that could be made were it a free for all.

“We continue to seek out innovative companies and technologies that can help us transform the marketing and sales landscape. With ReKindle, we saw a great opportunity for the technology that they have built to help us do that,” says Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot.

Now, ReKindle as a separate company is no more, with its team and tech integrated into HubSpot. Interestingly, Rekindle’s connection graph, which drove the contact-finding engine, seems key.

HubSpot is pretty excited about this element, incorporating into its existing sales products like Sidekick.

Indeed Brad Coffey, VP of HubSpot, namechecked that aspect when announcing the deal, claiming the power of the technology behind it is “completely aligned” with his company’s business model.

“The ability to connect the right people at the right time and taking some of the guesswork out of the process aligns perfectly with how we’re thinking about inbound sales and marketing today,” says the company.

No financials were announced as part of the deal.

Social media connecting people image, via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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