Salesforce agrees to buy Braze for about $5.7 billion in an AI marketing push
Braze shareholders will receive $47.50 per share in cash. The deal gives Salesforce a fast-growing platform for real-time customer messaging.
Salesforce has agreed to buy Braze, a customer engagement platform used by thousands of brands, for about $5.66 billion. Braze’s Class A shareholders will receive $47.50 per share in cash, according to Salesforce’s announcement filed with US regulators.
Reports put the price at roughly a 58% premium to Braze’s previous closing share price, and Braze shares jumped more than 50% after the news.
What does Braze do?
Braze, founded in 2011 under the name Appboy, helps companies talk to their customers at the right moment. It uses live activity data, such as what someone just did in an app, to send personalised messages through:
- Mobile apps (push notifications and in-app messages)
- Websites
- Email and SMS
Salesforce says Braze has about 2,770 customers, including Canva, Dairy Queen and Venmo. It also offers BrazeAI, which uses AI to choose the best content, offer, channel and timing for each person.
Why Salesforce wants it
Salesforce is the world’s best-known maker of customer relationship management (CRM) software. Its bet is that the future of marketing will be driven by AI that understands each customer and reacts instantly. Braze adds strong real-time and mobile skills, an area where Salesforce’s own Marketing Cloud has faced tough competition.
“Braze was built to turn live customer behavior into personalized engagement at scale.” — Patrick Stokes, Salesforce
Braze chief executive and co-founder Bill Magnuson said that “Salesforce shares our commitment to marketers”, and said Braze will keep building its product.
A busy year of deals
This is not Salesforce’s only big purchase. According to reports, it follows a pending $3.6 billion deal for Fin and an earlier acquisition of data company Informatica for around $8 billion. Big software companies are racing to own the data and tools that AI agents need to do useful work.
When will the deal close?
Salesforce expects the deal to close during its fiscal year 2028. It still needs approval from Braze shareholders and from regulators. Large tech acquisitions can face close checks from competition authorities, so the timeline could change.
What it means for businesses
- Braze customers: nothing changes immediately. Braze says it will keep operating and building its product.
- Salesforce customers: expect closer links between Salesforce data and Braze-style real-time messaging over time.
- Startups: the deal shows that companies with strong products and real revenue can still achieve large exits in the AI era.
