OneSignal lands $50M to help businesses send push notifications to mobile apps, SMS, and email

OneSignal, a YCombinator-backed tech startup designed to help businesses send notifications across every channel,  today announced it has raised $50 million in a Series C funding round to grow its customer messaging and engagement platform and expand its global footprint in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

The round, which brings OneSignal’s total investment since its founding to more than $80 million, was led by BAM Elevate, an investment division of Balyasny Asset Management with participation from Nimble Partners and existing investors SignalFire and Zach Coelius. They were joined by OneSignal’s other existing investors, including Rakuten Ventures, Yes.vc, HubSpot, and Y Combinator.

OneSignal will use the funding proceeds to enhance its omnichannel messaging & orchestration capabilities. In particular, OneSignal recently released Journeys, a workflow automation tool that allows businesses to customize their customer journeys to automate personalized messaging at scale.

The cash infusion will also be used to make investments in machine learning, geographic expansion, and growing OneSignal’s team (from 140 employees to 170) by the end of the year. To date, OneSignal is used by more than 1.7 million businesses around the world.

Founded in 2014 as a mobile app development company by Y Combinator alums George Deglin and Long Vo, OneSignal is leveling the playing field by allowing small businesses to compete with large enterprises and increase their customer engagement. Through its platform, businesses can intelligently interact with clients throughout different channels and send push notifications for mobile apps, SMS, and email campaigns.

“Every modern business understands the need to have a strong mobile presence and the importance of engaging with customers across multiple channels,” said George Deglin, CEO and Co-Founder of OneSignal. “We’re moving quickly and decisively to meet the requirements of today’s marketers and developers. We’re excited to have BAM Elevate’s backing to help us accelerate our mission to democratize customer engagement for millions of businesses worldwide.”

In conjunction with the round, Jamie McGurk also joins the OneSignal board, bringing 20+ years of operating and investing experience. Prior to BAM Elevate, McGurk was a Managing Partner at Coatue Management and spent 7 years as an Operating Partner at Andreessen Horowitz. As an Operating Partner, he built out Andreessen Horowitz’s Corporate Development operating team and helped raise more than $20 billion in financing and close over $20 billion in M&A transaction value for various portfolio companies.

“We are excited to continue supporting OneSignal’s tremendous growth in partnership with Jamie and BAM Elevate. From the beginning, we recognized the strength of OneSignal’s product and the exceptional team they had assembled. We are looking forward to leveraging Jamie’s deep experience in supporting high-growth startups as OneSignal continues to invest in its world-class team and rapid business expansion,” said Ilya Kirnos, Founding Partner at SignalFire.

“Today’s users expect hyper-personalized, relevant, and timely communication across every touchpoint. Creating a multichannel communication strategy is a must and OneSignal allows you to do this quickly and easily,” said McGurk. “It’s an honor to join the OneSignal team and I’m looking forward to working with George and the rest of the leadership team to continue on the great progress the company has made.”

Beginning as a mobile game studio, OneSignal pivoted to customer engagement when co-founder and CEO George Deglin saw an opportunity to address a perennial challenge in app development: creating an effective push notification pipeline.

OneSignal is backed by high-profile venture firms including SignalFire, Rakuten Ventures, Y Combinator, HubSpot, and BAM Elevate.

Below is a video from OneSignal CEO, George Deglin.