On Wednesday, the Cloud Communications platform, Twilio (NYSE:TWLO) announced the launch of Twilio Ventures and its new $50 million fund designed to champion the customers that are building the future of customer engagement.
Senior vice president Bryan Vaniman of corporate development, who is in charge of the new investment arm, is on a mission to build a fund and start investing.
It is a natural extension of the company, he says. Twilio Ventures will invest in startups and developers and have already invested in Hyro, Algolia, Calixa, and Terrazzo.
CEO Bernadette Nixon at Algolia said: “Twilio and Algolia share a vision of utilizing API building blocks to empower developers to improve the customer experience and engagement. As a truly developer-first company pushing the boundaries of customer engagement, we are thrilled to have the support of Twilio as we embark on our next phase of growth.”
Vaniman says that Twilio are secondary strategic investors even though they can’t share exact investment amounts with these companies.
It plans to act as valuable partners and offer these companies access to internal resources and assist with sales and marketing, but in most cases, without a board seat.
The Twilio Ventures program is an addition to Twilio’s existing Twilio.org Impact Fund that supports nonprofits and social enterprises that accelerate social impact through innovative communications and engagement technologies.
FUND IMPLICATIONS
According to TipRanks, the fund will mainly invest in early-stage companies. However, one cannot ignore attractive opportunities in late-stage companies.
Companies that fit within the Twilio ecosystem and companies involved in creating a better customer experience and engagement will be the twin areas of investments for the fund.
PRICE TARGET
Analyst Rishi Jaluria at RBC Capital recently reiterated a Buy rating on the stock with a price target of $450, implying an upside potential of 63.8% from its current levels.
The consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 16 Buys and 2 Holds. Twilio shares have fallen 12.1% over the past year.
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