Marketing tech company Banzai to acquire video creation platform OpenReel in $19.6M deal
Seattle-based marketing technology company Banzai International, which went public last year on the Nasdaq, announced an agreement this week to acquire OpenReel, a digital video creation platform for businesses.
Banzai will fund the deal with stock and warrants equal to $19.6 million, according to a news release.
OpenReel’s 33 team members will join Banzai, bringing its workforce to about 75 people, said Joe Davy, the Banzai CEO, in response to GeekWire’s questions about the acquisition.
“We met their team earlier this year and really liked the product,” Davy explained via email, when asked about the origins of the deal. “We ultimately had an opportunity to acquire the company a couple of months ago and jumped on it.”
OpenReel’s technology helps companies quickly create branded video content. Its enterprise customer base includes companies such as Bristol Myers Squibb, Ingram Micro, DXC Technology, Insider Inc., and US Steel.
The deal comes at a time of growing interest in generative AI video across the industry, as reflected by the release of OpenAI’s Sora platform earlier this week.
As of Sept. 30, Banzai reported annual recurring revenue of $4.4 million, up 7% sequentially from the second quarter, and an adjusted net loss of $1.45 million, an improvement of $3 million on the same basis. The acquisition will boost Banzai’s trailing twelve-month (TTM) revenue 152% to $10.9 million, according to the news release this week.
In the news release, Lee Firestone, CEO and co-founder of OpenReel, described its platform as a “perfect complement” to Demio, the webinar tech company acquired by Banzai in 2021.
Banzai’s acquisition of OpenReel is slated to close later this month.
“Banzai’s vision is to build an AI-powered marketing technology platform to help businesses of all sizes grow,” the company says in the release. “Acquiring mission-critical MarTech products like OpenReel will allow Banzai to drive customer growth by offering new solutions to existing customers to create long-term value for our shareholders.”
Founded by former Avalara employees in 2016, Banzai originally started as an on-demand inside sales and marketing platform.