Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, acquires multiservice messaging app Beeper for $125M

Automattic, the owner of WordPress.com, has announced its acquisition of Beeper, the company behind the iMessage-on-Android solution referenced in the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple. This $125 million deal marks Automattic’s second acquisition of a cross-platform messaging solution, following its purchase of Texts.com in October last year.

Eric Migicovsky, the founder of Beeper and previously the founder of Pebble smartwatch, will assume the role of head of Messaging at Automattic. This position was previously held by Kishan Bagaria, the founder of Texts.com, who will remain with Automattic and continue working on Beeper alongside Migicovsky.

Automattic has confirmed the commencement of the onboarding process for the Beeper team and expressed excitement about the progress made thus far. However, the company has not yet disclosed further details regarding organizational updates or Bagaria’s new title. Nonetheless, Bagaria will continue his involvement with Beeper under Migicovsky’s leadership.

The teams from Beeper and Texts.com, consisting of 25 and 15 members respectively, will collaborate to integrate the best features of each company’s product into a unified platform, as stated by Eric Migicovsky.

Migicovsky emphasized that Texts.com has developed an exceptional app with a strong focus on desktop and iOS platforms. Consequently, Beeper will incorporate the most advantageous aspects of Texts.com’s app into its own offering. Moving forward, the Beeper brand will encompass all messaging initiatives at Automattic. Migicovsky expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration with Kishan Bagaria, highlighting their shared vision and expertise in the messaging space.

The acquisition, finalized on April 1, represents a significant investment from Automattic, signaling a belief in the future of messaging that prioritizes open-source solutions and interoperability across services. Migicovsky revealed that the long-term strategy involves transitioning users to Beeper’s cross-platform app for message management before migrating them to Beeper’s proprietary chat protocol. This protocol will be built upon the open-source Matrix protocol, indicating a commitment to fostering an open and decentralized messaging ecosystem.