Salesforce said on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that it has agreed to buy Braze in a deal it values at about $5.66 billion. Braze's Class A shareholders will get $47.50 in cash for each share. Braze's stock had closed at $30.04 on Monday and jumped more than 50% on Tuesday, according to a news report.
Braze makes software that brands use to reach their customers through apps, websites, email, text messages and WhatsApp, and to change those messages as people browse, buy and use products. Braze says its AI tools, called BrazeAI, help marketers choose the content, offer, channel and timing of each message. The companies say Braze has about 2,770 customers, including Canva, Dairy Queen, Equinox, Instacart, Urban Outfitters and Venmo.
Salesforce says AI is raising the bar for marketers, who now need tools that can understand customers, make decisions and act in real time. It expects Braze to work with its marketing and customer data software and with Agentforce, its line of AI agents. An AI agent is software that can carry out tasks on its own, such as using apps and websites, instead of only answering questions. Salesforce says the combination would help brands tailor each message to what a customer is doing at that moment, at a scale big enough to reach hundreds of millions of people, but it has not spelled out what its agents would do with Braze's tools.
Salesforce says buying companies is part of how it plans to lead that change. In June it agreed to buy Fin, formerly Intercom, which sells an AI agent that it says answers customer service questions, for about $3.6 billion.
The Braze deal still needs approval from Braze's shareholders and from regulators, and Salesforce expects it to close in its 2028 fiscal year. Braze's chief executive and co-founder, Bill Magnuson, says Braze will "continue building as Braze" and keep investing in its customers and partners. Both companies say they share an open approach that lets customers keep using the data, tools and partners they already rely on, but neither has said how Braze's prices or products will change, or what happens to Braze customers who also use Salesforce's rivals.