Silverpop

Silverpop was an Atlanta-based cloud software company focused on marketing automation and email marketing. It served both business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketers with tools for creating, scheduling, segmenting, and measuring digital campaigns. Its platform also supported lead nurturing, behavioural tracking, and automated communications triggered by activity across email and web channels. The business began in 1999 under the name Avienda Technologies, co-founded by Aaron Shapiro and David Bloom. During its first two years, it raised approximately $35 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Gray Ventures and appointed Bill Nussey as chief executive officer. The company subsequently adopted the Silverpop name and broadened its proposition beyond email delivery. Rather than operating solely as an outbound email service, it developed a wider marketing-automation platform intended to help mid-market and enterprise organizations coordinate communications around customer and prospect behaviour. Silverpop's principal offering, Silverpop Engage, combined email campaign management with contact segmentation, behavioural monitoring, and workflow automation. Marketers could use activity data—such as interactions with messages or websites—to organize audiences and trigger more personalized communications. This made the platform relevant to demand generation, lead nurturing, customer engagement, and lifecycle marketing programs. The company continued to raise capital as it expanded. In April 2013, it secured a further $25 million from Escalate Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. In March 2014, IBM announced an agreement to acquire Silverpop in a transaction reported at approximately $275 million. Following completion of the acquisition, IBM incorporated Silverpop's technology and capabilities into its marketing software portfolio, including IBM Marketing Cloud. The Silverpop identity was therefore no longer developed as an independent operating brand. IBM later reorganized and rebranded elements of this marketing portfolio under the IBM Watson Marketing name. Silverpop's significance was its combination of email execution and broader behavioural marketing automation at a time when organizations were consolidating campaign, prospect, and customer data into unified cloud platforms. Its acquisition gave IBM an established marketing-automation product and specialized capabilities for personalized, event-driven engagement. The independent Silverpop company is now defunct as a standalone brand, with its technology absorbed into IBM's marketing software activities.

Silverpop originated in 1999 as Avienda Technologies, a company co-founded by Aaron Shapiro and David Bloom in Atlanta, Georgia. The business entered the market as cloud-based marketing technology was emerging as an alternative to installed campaign-management systems and basic outsourced email delivery. During 1999 and 2000, Avienda raised approximately $35 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Gray Ventures. Bill Nussey was appointed chief executive officer during this early period. The company later changed its name to Silverpop and expanded its commercial focus. Its proposition moved beyond the technical delivery of email messages toward a broader marketing automation system for mid-market and enterprise customers. The platform was designed for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer use cases, supporting campaign creation, message scheduling, contact segmentation, lead nurturing, and measurement of engagement. Behavioural data from websites and email interactions could be used to classify contacts and initiate automated communications. Silverpop Engage became the company's principal platform. It enabled marketers to build campaigns and workflows, organize audiences according to customer or prospect attributes, and send messages in response to observed activity. This placed Silverpop within the growing category of marketing automation providers that sought to connect email execution with prospect management and personalized customer journeys. Its software was applicable to demand generation, sales-support programs, customer retention, and other lifecycle-marketing activities. In April 2013, Silverpop raised a further $25 million from Escalate Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank. The financing supported the company's continued development and expansion as marketing departments increasingly sought integrated cloud tools for digital engagement. By this point, Silverpop had established itself as a specialist provider serving organizations that wanted more behavioural intelligence and workflow control than a conventional email service could provide. IBM announced in March 2014 that it would acquire Silverpop. The transaction was reported at approximately $275 million. The acquisition gave IBM a marketing automation product with established email, segmentation, tracking, and workflow capabilities. It also complemented IBM's broader efforts to build a cloud-based marketing portfolio for enterprise customers. After the acquisition, Silverpop's technology was integrated into IBM Marketing Cloud rather than continuing as an independent company. IBM subsequently used the IBM Watson Marketing name for related parts of its marketing software portfolio. As a result, Silverpop is best understood today as a discontinued standalone corporate brand whose products and capabilities were absorbed into IBM's marketing software operations.

1. 2014IBM announces acquisition

   IBM announced its agreement to acquire Silverpop in a deal reported at approximately $275 million.

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2. 2014Platform enters IBM Marketing Cloud

   Silverpop's technology was integrated into IBM Marketing Cloud following the acquisition.

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3. 2013Silverpop raises $25 million

   Silverpop secured additional financing from Escalate Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank.

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4. 2000Early funding reaches approximately $35 million

   Avienda Technologies had raised approximately $35 million from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Gray Ventures across 1999 and 2000.

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5. 1999Avienda Technologies is founded

   Aaron Shapiro and David Bloom co-founded Avienda Technologies, the company that later became Silverpop.

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6. 1999Early venture financing begins

   The company began raising capital from Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Gray Ventures during its first two years.

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Enterprise marketing automation combining email campaign execution, behavioural tracking, audience segmentation, lead nurturing, and automated personalized messaging.

• Silverpop EngageMarketing automation and email marketing platform

  Silverpop Engage was the company's flagship cloud platform. It supported email campaign creation and scheduling, audience segmentation, behavioural tracking, lead nurturing, and automated workflows. Marketers could use interactions with email and web properties to trigger or personalize subsequent communications. The product was designed for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer programs and targeted organizations seeking coordinated, data-informed engagement rather than standalone bulk email delivery.

• 2014IBM acquires SilverpopM&A

  Silverpop had developed from an email-focused provider into a broader marketing automation company offering campaign management, behavioural tracking, segmentation, and lead-nurturing capabilities.

  What changed. IBM announced an agreement to purchase Silverpop in a transaction reported at approximately $275 million.

  Aftermath. Silverpop's technology was integrated into IBM Marketing Cloud and later associated with IBM Watson Marketing, ending the company's operation as an independent brand.

  Reported acquisition value. $275 million (2014)

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• 2014IBM agrees to acquire Silverpop

  IBM announced an agreement to acquire Silverpop in a transaction reported to be worth approximately $275 million, adding the company's marketing automation capabilities to IBM's marketing software portfolio.

  M&A
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• 2014Silverpop technology integrated into IBM marketing products

  After the acquisition, IBM incorporated Silverpop's platform into IBM Marketing Cloud, and later reorganized related offerings under IBM Watson Marketing.

  M&A
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• 2013Silverpop raises additional growth capital

  Silverpop raised $25 million from Escalate Capital Partners and Silicon Valley Bank as it continued expanding its marketing automation business.

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1. Silverpop