Brevo, a customer relationship management company headquartered in Paris, has achieved unicorn status as a startup valued at over one billion dollars. The company raised five hundred million euros in fresh equity funding, which it will use to compete with larger players like Hubspot and Salesforce, not only in Europe but also in the United States.
Formerly known as Sendinblue, Brevo began in 2012 as an email marketing solution for small businesses. The company later expanded to serve the mid-market and repositioned itself with a new name to reflect its broader product scope. This strategy proved successful. Brevo now serves more than six hundred thousand customers, ranging from small business owners to larger clients such as Carrefour, eBay, and H&M.
The United States currently represents fifteen percent of Brevo’s revenue, making it one of its three largest markets alongside France and Germany. CEO Armand Thiberge plans to spend a portion of the new funding to grow the U.S. business, stating that since the U.S. represents fifty percent of the global market, it should also represent fifty percent of the company’s revenue.
The company’s financial trajectory is strong. After surpassing one hundred million dollars in annual recurring revenue in 2023, Brevo has already achieved its goal of exceeding two hundred million euros in annual recurring revenue ahead of its 2025 target. The company now aims to reach one billion euros in annual recurring revenue by 2030. While this is still far behind industry giant Salesforce, Brevo hopes its new unicorn status and equity funding will boost its profile.
The new funding will support several key initiatives. This includes a planned fifty-million-euro investment in artificial intelligence over five years and continued growth through acquisitions, of which the company has completed eleven to date. Brevo also intends to spend over one hundred million euros on its push into the U.S. market.
Brevo did not disclose the exact valuation from its latest funding round but provided details on its updated ownership structure. Contrary to acquisition rumors, Brevo’s management and employees still hold the largest share at twenty-six percent. New investors General Atlantic and Oakley Capital each acquired twenty-five percent, while existing investors Bpifrance and Bridgepoint retained twenty-four percent each. This cap table reflects Brevo’s ambition to build a global European CRM leader that competes through product excellence rather than European sovereignty.
CEO Armand Thiberge believes the winner in the CRM space will be whoever builds the most complete and easiest-to-use product. He acknowledges the challenge of serving both mid-market companies and very small businesses, but states this combination has been incredibly successful for Brevo.
To serve its diverse customer base, Brevo has expanded far beyond its email marketing origins. While it still competes with Mailchimp in that arena, the company now offers an all-in-one platform featuring marketing automation, CRM, customer data management, and communication across channels like email, SMS, WhatsApp, live chat, push notifications, and integrated sales calls. These functionalities are increasingly powered by AI, developed both in-house and through integrations.
Acquisitions remain a central part of Brevo’s growth strategy, both for expanding its feature set and for buying competitors in key markets. The company expects acquisitions to contribute forty-five percent of its one-billion-euro revenue target for 2030, indicating an extensive shopping list lies ahead.