Brevo has secured €500 million in new funding, reaching unicorn status and signalling an intensified effort to expand its global presence and AI-driven customer engagement platform. Investors in the round include General Atlantic and Oakley Capital, with minority investors Bpifrance and Bridgepoint continuing their support. Partech has exited its stake, while Brevo’s management and employees have become the largest shareholder group.

Growth focus

The latest investment will support Brevo’s strategy to scale its AI capabilities, drive growth in the United States, and increase mergers and acquisitions activity. The company expects to reach over EUR €200 million in annual recurring revenue in 2025 and is targeting EUR €1 billion in annual revenue by 2030. Its platform is currently used by major global brands, including eBay, H&M, Louis Vuitton, Carrefour, and Michelin, and serves more than 600,000 customers in 180 countries. France, Germany, and the US together generate 65% of total revenue, with US revenue now representing 24% of all new business.

AI initiatives

Brevo’s investment in artificial intelligence is centred on the Brevo AI Lab, which received EUR €50 million in funding to develop AI-powered features for marketing, sales, and customer engagement. These include agents for marketing automation and sales, as well as the MCP (Model Complex Protocol) connector, which enables integration with AI applications such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Mistral’s Le Chat.

More than half of Brevo’s workforce is dedicated to product development and research and development. The high proportion of technical staff underpins the company’s push to deliver advanced tools for unified customer engagement, which now spans marketing automation, CRM, customer data platforms, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications and social CRM.

US and mid-market

Brevo is making the United States a priority for investment, with over EUR €100 million allocated for expansion in the region through 2030. The company is also experiencing strong growth among mid-sized clients, a segment now growing at twice the rate of the wider business. This market validation supports Brevo’s strategy to enhance its offering for mid-market organisations and solidifies that segment as a cornerstone of future growth plans.

M&A strategy

To date, Brevo has completed 11 acquisitions, which have contributed to expanding both its technology stack and geographic reach. The new round of funding will enable accelerated external expansion, with a particular focus on adding new technologies and increasing market share in key regions.

Leadership perspectives

“I’m very pleased to welcome Oakley Capital and General Atlantic, two global investment firms that share our vision and high standards. Our ambition remains unchanged: to build a global European CRM leader capable of competing with US players through product excellence. This new phase will allow us to further accelerate our product roadmap, notably by leveraging AI, and to strengthen our operational excellence,” said Armand Thiberge, Founder and CEO, Brevo.

“We’re pleased to be partnering with a proven founder like Armand. He has built a remarkable company combining a unique product offering, international scale, and profitable growth. We see significant opportunity to further internationalise the business and expand into the mid-market, and we look forward to working in partnership with Brevo and General Atlantic to achieve this,” said Peter Dubens, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Oakley Capital.

“We see strong secular tailwinds in AI-driven customer engagement software platforms that serve SMBs and mid-market clients. Brevo is uniquely positioned at the centre of this shift with a product-led, capital-efficient foundation, and a visionary founder in Armand. We’re excited to support Brevo in becoming a global category leader,” said Sascha Günther, Managing Director, General Atlantic.

“Brevo’s journey over the past five years has been extraordinary. Together, we’ve scaled the business internationally, expanded its capabilities, and built a platform that now leads its category in Europe. The five-fold ARR growth and nine strategic acquisitions under our partnership reflect the vision and ambition of Armand and the team. We’re proud of what we’ve achieved together and look forward to supporting Brevo’s next chapter through our reinvestment via BDC V,” said Thomas Moussallieh, Partner, Bridgepoint.