In partnership with

Invest in the Next Mailchimp

For years, businesses have fought to capture consumer attention across an increasingly fragmented digital landscape. First, it was email. Then social media. Now, the battlefield has shifted once again—to mobile.

Mobile marketing isn’t new. Companies like Uber, DoorDash, and Instacart built their businesses on it, using push notifications and SMS to drive real-time engagement. What started as a way to nudge users toward a ride or a food order has evolved into a broader strategy—one that brands across industries are now scrambling to adopt.

With email open rates plummeting—down 45% over the past five years—and social algorithms making it harder than ever to reach audiences organically, SMS has become the most direct line to consumers. Messages sent via text boast a staggering 90% open rate, often read within minutes. In an era where customer engagement is measured in seconds, businesses are shifting more of their marketing spend toward mobile-first strategies. And it’s working—companies that embrace SMS marketing are seeing it drive a meaningful share of their revenue.

Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp helped businesses build massive customer engagement engines through email. Now, SMS is emerging as the next dominant channel—and one company has positioned itself at the center of this shift. That company is Attentive.

Traction

In 2021, Attentive closed the year with $125 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), a metric used to measure predictable, subscription-based revenue on an annual basis. By the end of 2022, this figure had surged to $200 million, representing an impressive 60% year-over-year growth. This growth reflects not only the increasing adoption of SMS marketing but also Attentive’s ability to retain and upsell its existing customer base while acquiring new ones.

The company has also forged key partnerships to accelerate its growth. A standout moment came with its collaboration with BigCommerce, an e-commerce platform serving over 60,000 businesses globally. This partnership opened doors for smaller businesses to adopt enterprise-grade SMS marketing solutions, further solidifying Attentive’s position as a leading player.

On average, brands using the platform report that SMS campaigns drive 18.5% of their total online revenue. Key metrics, such as a 90% open rate (the percentage of messages opened by recipients) and a 30% click-through rate (the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link within a message), reveal why many businesses are increasing their investments in this channel. These results also translate to an average return on investment (ROI) increase of 25%, making it an attractive proposition for marketing teams looking for measurable outcomes.

The company’s ambitions extend beyond U.S. borders. In 2023, Attentive opened its first international office in London, aiming to support its customers’ global expansion efforts. With an existing presence in Canada and Australia, Attentive is well-positioned to grow its influence in new markets. This strategic move allows U.S.-based brands to leverage SMS campaigns globally while attracting international businesses eager to replicate the success seen by domestic customers.

By 2024, Attentive’s growth accelerated even further, surpassing $500 million in ARR, a milestone achieved by fewer than 1% of venture-backed companies. This rapid revenue expansion, fueled by AI-powered mobile marketing innovations, reinforced Attentive’s leadership in the space. The company also secured a key patent victory in December 2024, settling a lawsuit against Emotive and strengthening its competitive position by protecting its proprietary two-tap mobile technology.

Attentive’s industry recognition continued, with the company ranking number 242 on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 list for the fourth consecutive year, boasting a 493% revenue growth over the past three years.

Looking ahead to 2025, Attentive is at the forefront of a major shift in mobile messaging. The company announced a partnership with Google to pioneer Rich Communication Services (RCS), an evolution of SMS that enables AI-powered, media-rich messaging experiences. This move positions Attentive not just as a leader in SMS marketing, but as a key player in the future of mobile-first customer engagement.

Timeline

• 2018: Attentive launches with its unique SMS marketing platform, targeting a niche gap in personalized mobile communication.

• 2019: Closes Series B funding round, raising growth capital and attracting high-profile investors.

• 2020: Partners with BigCommerce, an e-commerce platform, providing access to over 60,000 customers and broadening reach into small and medium-sized businesses.

• 2021: Hits $125 million in annual ARR and achieves a $6.9 billion valuation.

• 2022: ARR climbs to $200 million, reflecting 60% year-over-year growth.

• 2023: Opens first international office in London, expanding its footprint to Europe and building on its presence in Canada and Australia.

• 2024 – Surpasses $500 million ARR, cements industry leadership, wins a patent settlement protecting its two-tap mobile technology, and ranks number 242 on Deloitte’s Fast 500 list.

• 2025 – Announces partnership with Google to develop Rich Communication Services (RCS), ushering in a new era of AI-powered mobile messaging.

Big Tech Has Spent Billions Acquiring AI Smart Home Startups

The pattern is clear: when innovative companies successfully integrate AI into everyday products, tech giants pay billions to acquire them.

Google paid $3.2B for Nest.
Amazon spent $1.2B on Ring.
Generac spent $770M on EcoBee.

Now, a new AI-powered smart home company is following their exact path to acquisition—but is still available to everyday investors at just $1.90 per share.

With proprietary technology that connects window coverings to all major AI ecosystems, this startup has achieved what big tech wants most: seamless AI integration into daily home life.

Over 10 patents, 200% year-over-year growth, and a forecast to 5x revenue this year — this company is moving fast to seize the smart home opportunity.

The acquisition pattern is predictable. The opportunity to get in before it happens is not.

INVEST BEFORE BIG TECH MAKES THEIR MOVE

_{Past performance is not indicative of future results. Email may contain forward-looking statements. See US Offering for details. Informational purposes only.}

Business Model

Attentive operates on a usage-based pricing model, charging businesses per SMS or MMS message sent rather than taking a percentage of revenue generated. This approach makes it an attractive option for companies of all sizes, from startups running their first SMS campaigns to enterprise brands managing large-scale customer engagement. Unlike subscription-based marketing platforms, Attentive’s pricing scales directly with usage, ensuring that businesses only pay for what they need.

The company has expanded beyond e-commerce, building a presence in retail, food and beverage, and entertainment. This diversification has helped mitigate dependence on any single sector while broadening its total addressable market. Attentive also differentiates itself through seamless integrations with platforms like Shopify, HubSpot, and Zendesk, making it easy for businesses to incorporate SMS marketing into their existing workflows.

Strategic partnerships have played a major role in accelerating adoption. Attentive has worked closely with key e-commerce platforms, streamlining access for thousands of brands looking to implement SMS marketing without complex onboarding. These partnerships, combined with AI-driven automation tools and personalized messaging capabilities, have strengthened customer retention and contributed to the company’s rapid revenue growth.

With a scalable model, high customer engagement, and increasing adoption across industries, Attentive has positioned itself as the leader in SMS marketing while continuing to build a broader ecosystem around mobile-first customer engagement.

Opportunity

The shift toward mobile isn’t slowing down—it’s accelerating. Consumers are spending more time on their phones than ever before, making mobile the most valuable real estate for brands looking to engage customers directly. In the United States, average daily smartphone usage has climbed from 3.5 hours in 2019 to 4.57 hours in 2023. This increase reflects the growing role of mobile devices in everything from communication to commerce, underscoring why businesses are prioritizing mobile-first marketing strategies.

Attentive sits at the center of this transformation. The global SMS marketing software industry is projected to grow from $5.6 billion in 2021 to $24.7 billion by 2028, a 20.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). As email engagement continues to decline and social media algorithms limit organic reach, brands are turning to high-engagement channels like SMS to capture customer attention. With an industry-leading 90% open rate and a 30% click-through rate, Attentive provides the kind of measurable results that businesses are struggling to achieve elsewhere.

Beyond SMS, the next evolution of mobile engagement is already underway. Attentive’s partnership with Google to develop Rich Communication Services (RCS) signals its ambition to shape the future of mobile messaging. RCS offers AI-powered, media-rich experiences that could transform how brands interact with customers, providing an even more interactive and personalized alternative to traditional SMS.

With mobile usage rising and businesses increasingly shifting marketing budgets to direct, high-performing channels, Attentive is well-positioned to benefit from this long-term trend.

Competition

The SMS marketing space is increasingly competitive, with several players offering mobile messaging capabilities. However, many of these platforms treat SMS as a bolt-on feature, whereas Attentive was built from the ground up as a mobile-first marketing solution. This distinction allows Attentive to deliver deeper functionality, higher engagement rates, and a more seamless experience compared to platforms that focus primarily on email or broader marketing automation.

Marketing-Centric Platforms

Platforms like Mailchimp and Klaviyo dominate the email marketing space but have added SMS as an additional feature rather than a core offering. While these tools provide value for businesses that primarily rely on email, their SMS functionality is often limited in automation, personalization, and reporting. Attentive, by contrast, was designed specifically for SMS-driven engagement, giving brands more granular control over customer interactions.

Product-Centric Platforms

Platforms such as Customer.io and Iterable focus on marketing automation, allowing brands to send personalized messages across multiple channels. These tools are effective for businesses looking to manage cross-channel campaigns, but they often lack the deep SMS-specific optimizations that Attentive offers—such as AI-driven message timing, response automation, and mobile-first engagement strategies.

Sales-Centric Platforms

Tools like Zendesk Sell and HubSpot CRM cater to sales teams, incorporating SMS as part of a larger customer relationship management (CRM) suite. While useful for sales-driven messaging, these platforms do not provide the marketing-focused automation and analytics that businesses need to drive customer engagement and conversions at scale.

Hybrid Competitors

Companies like Braze and Iterable offer a mix of email, push notifications, and SMS, positioning themselves as full-stack marketing solutions. While this multi-channel approach has its advantages, it also means that SMS is not their primary focus. Attentive’s dedication to mobile-first marketing allows it to optimize SMS performance in ways that broader platforms cannot, with industry-leading 90% open rates and 30% click-through rates.

Why Attentive Wins

Attentive’s mobile-first DNA gives it a structural advantage over competitors that treat SMS as an add-on. Its platform is purpose-built for high-converting mobile interactions, offering advanced segmentation, AI-powered personalization, and real-time engagement tools that drive measurable ROI. As businesses shift more marketing spend toward direct, high-engagement channels, Attentive’s specialized approach positions it as the leading choice for brands that see SMS as a core strategy—not just another marketing channel.

Valuation and Investor Growth

Attentive’s valuation trajectory reflects both its rapid revenue growth and the shifting dynamics of the private market. The company’s most recent funding round in March 2021 valued it at $6.92 billion, with shares priced at $45.66. At the time, this represented a 55.2x revenue multiple, a common premium for high-growth SaaS businesses during the bull market.

Since then, private market valuations have come down significantly, and secondary market transactions for Attentive shares have reflected this shift. Recent deals on Hiive have priced shares at $7, an 85% discount from its last round, while StartEngine’s latest offering at $22.50 also presents a significant markdown.

Despite the valuation reset, Attentive’s fundamentals remain strong. The company has surpassed $500 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR), meaning a $7 share price implies just a ~2x revenue multiple—well below what companies of its scale and growth rate typically command. Late-stage SaaS businesses often trade at 5–10x revenue, suggesting that secondary market buyers could be acquiring shares at a steep discount to intrinsic value.

Attentive has raised over $863 million across multiple funding rounds, with backing from Coatue, Tiger Global, Sequoia, Bain Capital Ventures, and Wellington Management—firms known for supporting category-defining technology businesses. While some of these investors may have marked down their positions given broader market conditions, their continued involvement signals long-term conviction in Attentive’s ability to lead the SMS marketing space.

For investors considering an entry, the key questions are how much further valuations could compress and what an eventual exit could look like. With no announced IPO plans, liquidity remains uncertain, but Attentive’s scale and revenue profile make it a potential public market candidate in the coming years.

Pros and Cons

How to Invest

Attentive’s last funding round in 2021 priced shares at $45.66 each, during a period of peak market exuberance. Today, secondary market prices tell a different story—offering investors two potential entry points at a significant discount.

• StartEngine – $22.50 per share

  • StartEngine is facilitating a potential $500K raise, with shares priced at $22.50 each—a 50% discount from the company’s last primary round. The minimum investment is $2,500, making this an accessible option for smaller investors looking to gain exposure at a markdown.

• Hiive – $7 per share

  • For those able to invest more, Hiive has deals at approximately $7 per share, a staggering 85% discount from the last fundraise. However, these transactions require a larger ticket size—around $35,000.

  • What makes this particularly compelling is the valuation multiple. If Attentive is generating $500 million in annual revenue, a $7 per share price would reflect just a ~2x revenue multiple—a steep discount for a company of this scale and growth trajectory. By comparison, businesses with similar revenue and momentum typically command at least a 5x multiple, suggesting significant upside potential.

As always, investing in private markets carries risks, including potential valuation changes. If you’re considering an investment in Attentive or have questions about private market transactions, feel free to reach out at [email protected].

Important Information Below

This material has been distributed solely for informational and educational purposes only and is not a solicitation or an offer to buy any security or to participate in any trading strategy. All material presented is compiled from sources believed to be reliable, but accuracy, adequacy, or completeness cannot be guaranteed, and Cold Capital makes no representation as to its accuracy, adequacy, or completeness.

The information herein is based on Cold Capital’s beliefs, as well as certain assumptions regarding future events based on information available to Cold Capital on a formal and informal basis as of the date of this publication. The material may include projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events, targets or expectations. Past performance of a company is no guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee that any opinions, forecasts, projections, risk assumptions, or commentary discussed herein will be realized. Actual experience may not reflect all of these opinions, forecasts, projections, risk assumptions, or commentary.

Cold Capital shall have no responsibility for: (i) determining that any opinions, forecasts, projections, risk assumptions, or commentary discussed herein is suitable for any particular reader; (ii) monitoring whether any opinions, forecasts, projections, risk assumptions, or commentary discussed herein continues to be suitable for any reader; or (iii) tailoring any opinions, forecasts, projections, risk assumptions, or commentary discussed herein to any particular reader’s objectives, guidelines, or restrictions. Receipt of this material does not, by itself, imply that Cold Capital has an advisory agreement, oral or otherwise, with any reader.

Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that the future performance of any specific investment, investment strategy, company or product made reference to directly or indirectly in this material, will be profitable, equal any corresponding indicated performance level(s), or be suitable for your portfolio. Due to rapidly changing market conditions and the complexity of investment decisions, supplemental information and other sources may be required to make informed investment decisions based on your individual investment objectives and suitability specifications. All expressions of opinions are subject to change without notice. Investors should seek financial advice regarding the appropriateness of investing in any security of the company discussed in this presentation.