In the past year and a half, Zoom officially became a verb.
With people using Zoom for everything from happy hours to church services, it’s no surprise the firm’s stock price has jumped more than 4x since the beginning of 2020.
Zoom is now using that stock to move beyond video chat… by dropping $14.7B (all stock) to acquire Five9, a cloud contact center platform.
Zoom is building and buying its way to a multiproduct future
The firm has expanded its product through a series of recent product launches, including:
- Zoom Phone: An enterprise cloud phone system
- Zoom Rooms: Hardware to integrate conference rooms with Zoom
- Zoom for Home: A personal home-office solution to simplify remote collaboration
Zoom also partners with tons of apps, including Five9, whose AI-powered contact center software complements Zoom Phone.
According to Five9 CEO Rowan Trollope, their existing co-selling relationship has sparked “tremendous” customer interest in a more integrated solution.
Five9 counts Under Armour, Lululemon, and Citrix among its 2k+ customers — which spells out some massive cross-selling opportunities.
Depending on whom you ask, Zoom could be playing offense or defense
On one hand, the deal gives Zoom entry to the ~$24B contact center market, showing they’re willing to move aggressively into new territory.
On the other, the acquisition could be viewed as a hedge, future-proofing the company in case videoconferencing slows as in-person meetings become more popular.
Either way, next time you use the word “Zoom,” it may mean more than just videoconferencing, which seems to be exactly what the firm is hoping for.
