Atlassian To Buy Video Messaging Specialist Loom For $975M

The project management software provider is getting serious about video collaboration with the announcement of plans to buy privately held video messaging platform Loom for a close to $1 billion price tag.

Atlassian, the project management software vendor behind tools Jira, Confluence and Trello, has agreed to acquire privately held video messaging platform provider Loom for approximately $975 million, the two companies revealed on Thursday.

The acquisition will help Atlassian boost its collaboration capabilities within its project management tools and let users easily work video into their existing workflows, the companies said.

Australia-based Atlassian was a customer of Loom’s enterprise-grade video platform prior to the deal announced on Thursday. Loom’s other high-profile customers include the likes of Amazon, Apple, Goldman Sachs, and Juniper Networks.

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San Francisco-based Loom offers an asynchronous video messaging tool that helps users communicate through instantly shareable videos. The company, which was founded in 2016, said that nearly 5 million Loom videos are created every month by their 200,000 customers.

Atlassian said that Loom will remain available as a standalone product. Once the acquisition is complete, the company plans on integrating Loom across its full suite of project management tools.

“As Atlassian consolidates Loom into its platform, engineers will soon be able to visually log issues in Jira, leaders will use videos to connect with employees at scale, sales teams will send tailored video updates to clients, and HR teams will onboard new employees with personalized welcome videos. By integrating Atlassian’s and Loom’s investments in AI, customers will be able to seamlessly transition between video, transcripts, summaries, documents, and the workflows derived from them,” Atlassian said in a statement on its site about the deal.

The deal is expected to close during Atlassian’s fiscal third quarter that ends in March 2024 and will be funded with existing cash balances, Atlassian said. The deal is subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approval.

The Atlassian-Loom deal is just another acquisition in a long line that has shrunk the unified communications (UC) and collaboration space in recent years. UC specialist Mitel earlier this month officially closed on its previously announced planned acquisition of Unify, the UC and collaboration business of Atos.