• by Jess Nelson , January 30, 2017

Return Path on Monday announced the acquisition of ThreatWave, a Colorado-based email intelligence company.

No financial details of the agreement were disclosed, but Return Path states that the companpy acquired all data and technology assets, as well as the company’s talent and business portfolio.

For now, ThreatWave will continue to operate independently as a Return Path company. Tom Bartel, ThreatWave CEO and a former Return Path employee, will remain on board.

Return Path will integrate ThreatWave's data into its Email Optimization product suite, expanding the insights available to customers with regard to email sender activity and potential security concerns. ThreatWave’s real-time and historic email data will also be added to Return Path’s Data Exchange, an aggregated and anonymous database of more than 2 million consumer inboxes across 80 mailbox providers. 

No timeline for either integration has been set, but Return Path company executives suggest the unique data could create opportunities for new product development in the future.

“ThreatWave’s global email data provides unparalleled visibility into the threats facing the email ecosystem — spam traps, bad senders, and more,” states Matt Blumberg, CEO at Return Path. “Through this acquisition, Return Path will be able to help marketers and email service providers to pinpoint which data sources, list acquisition practices, email programs, and customer segments are driving deliverability issues.”

This is Return Path’s second email intelligence-related acquisition in as many months. The company also acquired Email Copilot, a New York-based startup specializing in real-time email deliverability information, in late November.