The novel coronavirus outbreak which originated in China, has now spread to almost every corner of the world and has led to the world’s largest work-from-home experiment. With employees working remotely and communication getting hampered by distances, there has been a surge on the usage of video conferencing apps like Google Meet, Microsoft Teams and Zoom.
Encashing on the demand, Verizon has recently agreed to buy Zoom’s direct rival video conferencing app BlueJeans for less than $500 million. The deal was first reported by Wall Street Journal on Thursday.
The mobile carrier said it aims to use BlueJeans, which has more than 15,000 customers, to help companies build out services like telehealth, online education platforms or remote training tools.
BlueJeans is more focused on businesses rather than consumers, offering encrypted videoconferencing — but at a price, whereas rival services like Zoom and Skype are free to use.
With the increase in number of remote workers globally, Verizon has seen a general surge in usage. The company said late last month that it was handling an average of 800 million wireless calls each weekday — nearly twice the volume the company sees on Mother’s Day.
Blue Jeans surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue during the fiscal year ended in January 2019. Two-thirds of its revenue comes from enterprise customers such as Automatic Data Processing Inc., Facebook Inc., LinkedIn Corp., Illumina Inc., Intuit Inc., Red Hat Inc. and Suntory Beverage & Food Ltd., according to a statement.
Recently, there have been multiple reports highlighting the privacy concerns regarding the usage of the Zoom app. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has also barred government employees from using the app and its services.
The controversy around the popular video app might be a gain for the BlueJeans, believe experts. Earlier, the Mountain View, California-based company in 2015 raised $76.5million from Jeter Ventures. New Enterprise Associates led that round, while existing investors including Accel Partners, Battery Ventures and Norwest Venture Partners also participated.
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