Last year, Slack predicted that cloud-based messaging channels will become the flagship form of business communication by 2025 — and yesterday, the collaboration platform used by more than 8m people just got one step closer to achieving its vision.
Slack announced its acquisition of Astro, a Bay Area productivity startup that uses AI to highlight important information from your emails and calendar amid all the fluff.
Cuttin’ out the slack
This acquisition checks yet another box off the list for Slack in its quest to to become a one-stop virtual office (AKA, a GIF treasure trove) for companies worldwide.
Astro was founded in 2015 and last year introduced Astrobot, a Slack app that — conveniently enough — integrates email and calendars directly into Slack’s messaging platform.
Now, users won’t have to waste milliseconds of their precious day toggling back and forth across the tops of their internet browsers, deep in the criminal monstrosity that is the open tab labyrinth (tabyrinth!).
Slack is on a tear in the workplace
Slack snatched up Hipchat and Stride 2 months ago (both workflow productivity apps designed for corporate enterprises by Australian-based Atlassian).
Astro’s 28-person team will join Slack later this year, making it Slack’s largest team acquisition to date. Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but thanks to a new $427m in series H funding last month, we’re guessing they didn’t sweat the price tag.