Braze, Inc.
Braze, Inc. operates a customer engagement platform that provides interactions between consumers and brands worldwide. It offers Braze software development kits that automatically manage data ingestion and deliver mobile and web notifications, in-application/in-browser interstitial messages, and content cards; REST API to import or export data or to trigger workflows between Braze and brands' existing technology stacks; Partner Data Integrations, that allow brands to sync user cohorts from partners; Data Transformation, in which brands can programmatically sync and transform user data; Braze Cloud Data Ingestion that offers direct connections to cloud services and data warehouses, marketing, product, and growth teams; Braze Currents to stream data in real time; and Snowflake Data Sharing to track and store data. It also provides segmentation that define reusable segments of consumers based upon attributes, events, or predictive propensity scores; segment insights, which allows customers to analyze how segments are performing relative to each other across a set of pre-selected key performance indicators; and predictive suite that allows customers to identify groups of consumers that are of critical business value. In addition, the company offers Canvas, an orchestration tool; campaigns, which allows customers; event and API triggering; marketing pressure management; and reporting and analytics, as well as content generation and quality assurance platform, content management, catalogs, templating language, connected content, and intelligent timing and channel products. Further, it provides decisioning studio; agent console; liquid assistant and AI copywriter; personalized variant; AI item recommendations; and MCP Servers. The company was formerly known as Appboy, Inc. and changed its name to Braze, Inc. in November 2017. Braze, Inc. was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
What does it do?
Braze is a software platform that helps companies send the right message to the right customer at the right time. Think about when Spotify sends you a push notification saying 'Your Wrapped is ready' or when Duolingo reminds you to practice your Spanish — that kind of automated, personalized messaging is exactly what Braze powers. Brands plug Braze into their apps and websites, and Braze handles the logic of when and how to reach each user across email, push notifications, SMS, and in-app messages. Over 1,000 companies including Sephora, HBO, and Burger King use it to keep their customers engaged.
As digital advertising gets more expensive and less effective, companies are doubling down on keeping the customers they already have — and that is exactly the problem Braze solves. In a world where Apple and Google have tightened privacy rules and made it harder to track users across the web, owning your direct communication channel with customers has become more valuable than ever. Braze sits right at that intersection, which is why investors are watching whether it can become the default tool for customer retention across industries.
How does it make money?
Braze makes almost all of its money through subscription contracts, where companies pay an annual fee based on how many users they are messaging and how many Braze features they use. Revenue grew from $0.6B to $0.7B in the most recent year, roughly 17% growth. Customers typically start small and expand their usage over time — sending more messages, to more users, across more channels — which naturally increases what they pay Braze each year. This 'land and expand' model means Braze does not need to constantly find new customers to grow revenue; it just needs its existing ones to do more.
Why do investors care?
The bull case for Braze is that every company with an app or website eventually needs a tool like this, and Braze has a head start in building the most capable platform. The company is still unprofitable, losing around $100M last year, but investors are betting that as it grows, those losses shrink and it eventually becomes a very high-margin software business — which is how software companies typically work at scale. For that to happen, Braze needs to keep winning large enterprise customers, hold off competition from Salesforce and Adobe, and prove it can grow faster in international markets. The stock has fallen significantly from its 2021 highs, so buyers today are getting in at a much lower price than early investors paid.
Deep Dive
MemberA full investor briefing on Braze, Inc. — history, leadership, risks, and outlook.