- GeneralM&A
- February 4, 2021
- 4 minutes read
Box Buys E-Signature Startup SignRequest For $55M
Box, the publicly-traded cloud storage company, has announced its intent to buy SignRequest, a startup whose core product is a cloud-based…
Box, the publicly-traded cloud storage company, has announced its intent to buy SignRequest, a startup whose core product is a cloud-based electronic signature service. Box will pay $55 million to buy the startup, after which its e-signature services will be integrated into Box’s software stack.
After the acquisition, SignRequest’s team is expected to take on new roles at Box.
That Box is buying SignRequest doesn’t come as a surprise given that e-signature software is one of the major tools offered by companies like Box that provides software for online file storage and collaboration. Box has been lacking an e-signature feature before now but will now be getting one thanks to SignRequest.
Coughing up $55 million to get an e-signature feature doesn’t seem cheap but has apparently been decided to be worth it by Box’s management led by CEO Aaron Levie. SignRequest is a Netherlands-based startup so the $55 million price marks a good one by the country’s startup exit standards. Were it in the US, it could be just another exit on another day.
Notably, SignRequest doesn’t seem to have taken outside funding going by publicly-known information, making its $55 million acquisition even more lucrative.
Box’s SignRequest acquisition mirrors that of its near-namesake and rival, Dropbox, which paid $230 million in cash to acquire its own e-signature provider, HelloSign, in 2019.
Photo credit: Box CEO Aaron Levie, credit: Fortune Live Media is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0
