Milpitas-based communications startup Eltropy Inc. on Wednesday announced the acquisition of a Utah company that provides video calling software for the banking industry.
Eltropy Inc., which helps credit unions digitally communicate with their customers, acquired POPio Mobile Video Cloud LLC to help credit unions deal with a pair of challenges, "finding new ways to connect with their members remotely while continuing to streamline in-branch services," Eltropy co-founder and CEO Ashish Garg said in a news release. "By joining forces with POPio, we’re empowering credit unions to build robust virtual branch capabilities and serve members anytime, anywhere, in the channel of their choice."
Eltropy has more than 400 credit union customers and helps them communicate with their customers through chat, artificial intelligence-driven text messages and now, video calling. The startup was founded in 2014 and had about 155 employees, Pranger said. Now with the acquisition of POPio, the company has 200 employees.
Garg said he met POPio's founder and chairman, Gene Pranger, while attending credit union conferences over the years. "We had several customers that were using us for texting and using them for video," Garg told the Business Journal, adding that many customers asked why there wasn't a single platform for both services. "In a lot of ways, it was our customers who pushed us to explore an integration."
Eltropy was able to acquire POPio through a combination of cash and Eltropy stock, though Garg declined to share further details about the transaction. Pranger is now an observer on Eltropy's board of directors.
The companies plan to operate as independent subsidiaries and keep their brands separate for now, though they plan to combine their sales and marketing teams, Garg said. He added that he doesn't anticipate any layoffs resulting from the acquisition — in fact, he said Eltropy plans to hire more sales professionals, now that the company has more services to offer its customers.
Eltropy last raised $25 million in Series A funding last year from K1 Investment Management, Curql Fund and CMFG Ventures, according to a company blog post.
The merger of Eltropy and POPio would improve the communications for all kinds of financial institutions, improving the consumer experience of their members, Pranger said in the news release.
"Now your members will enjoy seamless communication that will help them find the financial answers and solutions they need while making you the most productive (financial institution) in the markets you serve," Pranger said in the release.
