Australia’s Whispir dials into global market

Australian cloud-based communications software supplier Whispir is set to expand its international footprint after securing A$11.75m (US$8.98m) in Series A funding last September.

By the end of its 2017 financial year, the company will have added 75 new staff across Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and its offices in Asia and the US. It plans to more than double its workforce within the next 12 months.

Among the new employees are several key additions to its management team, including Jonathan Swift, who joined the company as head of product in May 2017 to lead Whispir’s expansion plans.

Whispir’s recent growth in ANZ has been supported by continued expansion into international markets, with substantial success in Asia driven by large enterprise customer wins. The company, with dual headquarters in Melbourne and Singapore, expects to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 85% year on year.

The firm’s software is used by some of the biggest companies in the region – from Singapore’s SingPost and Changi Airport Group to Australia’s public transport operator V/Line – to connect with customers and facilitate communications among employees.

The company expects to grow at a CAGR of 56% between its 2015 and 2017 fiscal years. Increasing channel diversity through partnerships with Telstra, Critchlow, IBM, Twilio, StarHub and TelkomTelstra is expected to further accelerate its global expansion.

Whispir has also seen 68% year-on-year growth in transactions per customer as usage of its cloud-based platform increases among blue-chip enterprises and government customers.

“Whispir is becoming the communications glue of the future enterprise software ecosystem,” said Jeromy Wells, founder, CEO and chairman at Whispir.

“We have a bold vision for further expansion. The growth we have achieved so far will be accelerated by building on our strengths with a product pipeline that includes AI, the internet of things and data analytics.”

According to research firm Gartner, the unified communications-as-a-service market is seeing rapid adoption, with capabilities such as rich mobility, conferencing and API support that are as good as those available through traditional on-premise equipment. The market is highly competitive and is beginning to consolidate, however.