8x8 Inc. To Buy Singapore CPaaS Provider Wavecell For $125 Million

Cloud communications company 8x8 has snapped up Wavecell, a Communications Platform-as-a-Service (CPaaS) player in a deal that will help 8x8 provide more messaging, voice, and video APIs to enterprises and developers.

Wavecell, a privately-held firm based in Singapore, will not only deepen 8x8's technical capabilities, but it will also grow San Jose, Calif.-based 8x8’s international presence. Wavecell has more than 500 enterprise customers across Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Hong Kong.

8x8 will acquire Wavecell for approximately $125 million in a cash and stock deal, the companies said on Wednesday.

[Related: 8x8 Touts 'Astronomical' Channel Growth; Partner Deals Increasing 50 Percent Year-Over-Year]

 Via the terms of the deal, 8x8 will inherit Wavecell's cloud-based technology platform for building APIs for enterprise applications, including APIs for messaging, omni-channel customer communication, and multi-factor authentication, the two companies said.

“The market opportunity in CPaaS is growing rapidly, and this acquisition enables us to quickly provide these services to our customers around the world,” said Vik Verma, CEO of 8x8 in a statement. “8x8 is now the only cloud provider that owns the full, global-scale, cloud-native technology stack offering voice, video, messaging, and contact center delivered both as pre-packaged applications and as enterprise-class APIs. We’re excited to welcome the Wavecell employees to the 8x8 family."

The deal will expand 8x8's presence and coverage into the Asia Pacific region, an area in which 8x8 has been trying to grow. Together with Wavecell, 8x8 will reach more than 190 carriers globally with its communications platform.

8x8 is in the process of growing its business through the channel. The company grew its partner sales by 50 percent year over year during 2018, channel executives from the company told CRN.