• by Ray Schultz , January 11, 2021

Mailchimp has acquired Chatitive, Inc. a two-way SMS marketing platform, further extending its services beyond email.

Terms of the purchase, which was announced on Monday, were not disclosed.  

Founded in 2016, Seattle-based Chatitive will initially continue to operate under that brand name. 

Chatitive's CEO Andy Hollenbeck will join Mailchimp as head of conversational SMS, and other Chatitive team members will serve in technology and customer-focused roles, Mailchimp says.

The deal follow several other Mailchimp acquisitions over the past two years, including those of Sawa, an automated design platform; BigTeam, a survey platform; and inspector 6, a AI content platform. 

Mailchimp says its small-business clients have been asking for a mobile messaging capability. The Chatitive service can be utilized with email, websites, AI-powered smart tools, automations and other channels and features on the Mailchimp platform, the company says. 

Chatitive serves such clients as Vivino, Universal Music Group, BURST Oral Care, Rover, and Goose Island Beer.