Dive Brief:
- Last fall, Microsoft considered buying business messaging service Slack for $8 billion, according to a report from TechCrunch.
- Even after an internal campaign, purchase failed to gain traction due to lack of support from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and the company's CEO, Satya Nadella.
- With a push from Gates, the company instead chose to boost Skype's offerings to make it more competitive in the business market, TechCrunch reported.
Dive Insight:
Slack has 2.3 million daily users, with 675,000 paying. The company’s ability to quickly attract those users has resulted in it receiving 8-10 acquisition offers already, according to TechCrunch.
Last week reports surfaced that the company is looking to raise $150 million-$300 million in financing, according to Bloomberg. An investment that size would make the company's value at $3.5 billion to $4 billion. Slack was recently valued at $2.8 billion.
Slack has captured attention because of its unique capabilities as well as its simple onboarding process. The company takes instant messaging and makes it much more interactive. Users can include images, GIFs and other files while on the service, helping expand collaboration in the workplace.
Last week, Slack reported it has begun offering voice calls as well. Now, with the expanded features, companies may continue to sign up for the service, changing how they view traditional meetings.
Skype has been adding features to improve its appeal to business users as well, and the decision to put more money into it rather than buying Slack shows the Microsoft’s faith in its own product. In December, Microsoft bought Talko, a collaboration and voice chat app company. Microsoft said it would roll Talko’s technology and team members into Skype for Business.
