Freshdesk acquires social media analytics startup Airwoot

San Francisco- and Chennai-headquartered cloud-based customer service software provider Freshdesk Inc has acquired Faridabad-based Memeticlabs Technologies Pvt Ltd that operates social media listening and analytics platform Airwoot for an undisclosed amount, marking its fifth acquisition to date.

Airwoot will continue to remain as a stand-alone product, the company said in a press release.

However, the platform's algorithm will be integrated into Freshdesk to enhance its social media offerings.

"Delivering customer support through social media continues to be a challenge for many firms given the high volume of noise in the medium. Airwoot's AI technology provides us a platform to power the social engagement centres of the future," said Girish Mathrubootham, CEO of Freshdesk.

Founded by Saurabh Arora and Prabhat Saraswat in December 2011, Airwoot uses machine learning to identify conversations, including queries and grievances, on social media that require attention. Its algorithms also predict when a conversation is likely to go viral and alerts companies to act.

In 2013, Airwoot raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Kae Capital and Google India MD Rajan Anandan, among others.

A Freshdesk spokesperson said Airwoot's investors have exited as part of the deal. "It was a successful exit for Airwoot's investors," the spokesperson said. However, he refused to divulge further details.

Founded in 2010 by former Zoho employees Girish Mathrubootham and Shan Krishnasamy, Freshdesk is a SaaS-based startup that provides cloud-based customer support solutions. Its flagship product Freshdesk allows organisations to support customers through email, phone, websites, mobile apps, forums and social media.

Freshdesk has been on an acquisition spree. The buyout of Airwoot comes just two months after it acquired Pune-based visual collaboration platform Framebench for an undisclosed amount.

In December last year, Freshdesk bought in-app customer support platform Konotor for an undisclosed amount.

In October 2015, it acquired social recommendation platform Frilp.

In August, the SaaS-based customer support firm acquired video chat software 1Click.io for an undisclosed amount.