Privy is a leading email and SMS marketing platform specifically designed for small and medium-sized e-commerce businesses. Initially focused on helping brick-and-mortar businesses with digital marketing, Privy pivoted to e-commerce and has since become a dominant player in the Shopify ecosystem. It offers tools for email marketing, SMS campaigns, and on-site conversion features like pop-ups to help businesses grow their sales and customer base.
Privy was founded by Ben Jabbawy in 2011 with the initial goal of helping brick-and-mortar businesses understand how digital ads translate into foot traffic. However, after struggling to scale with this model, the company pivoted to focus on e-commerce, particularly email marketing for online stores. This shift marked the beginning of Privy’s rapid growth.
In 2013, Privy raised a $2 million seed round but faced challenges due to overstaffing and financial mismanagement. With only $1,000 left in the bank, Jabbawy rebuilt the company with a smaller team and a renewed focus on self-service e-commerce tools.
Privy has raised several rounds of funding throughout its history:
Seed Round (2013): $2 million from angel investors including Mike Volpe (CEO of Lola.com) and Randy Parker (Founder of Constant Contact).
Following its successful pivot to e-commerce, Privy continued to grow without needing significant additional rounds of public funding.
Privy offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help small businesses grow their online sales through email and SMS marketing:
Email Marketing: Automated email campaigns such as abandoned cart reminders, welcome series, post-purchase follow-ups, and newsletters.
SMS Marketing: Personalized text messaging campaigns that drive engagement and repeat purchases.
On-Site Conversion Tools: Customizable pop-ups, banners, spin-to-win games, and other display tools to capture leads and increase conversions.
Integrations: Seamless integration with major e-commerce platforms like Shopify and Wix.
Privy's product is user-friendly and designed specifically for non-experts, making it accessible for small business owners who may not have dedicated marketing teams.
In June 2021, Privy was acquired by Attentive. This acquisition allowed both companies to combine their strengths—Privy's expertise in email marketing and Attentive's leadership in SMS marketing—creating a more comprehensive solution for e-commerce businesses.
Despite the acquisition, Privy continues to operate as a standalone division within Attentive. The merger has enabled faster product development and more robust features while maintaining the same level of customer support that users have come to expect.
The acquisition by Attentive has accelerated Privy's product development:
Faster Feature Releases: The combined resources of Attentive and Privy have led to quicker rollouts of new features aimed at improving customer engagement and boosting conversion rates.
Privy emphasizes a strong company culture rooted in customer success and employee well-being:
Core Values: Honesty, respect, risk-taking for excellence, continuous learning, work-life balance, and building a company that employees love.
Remote-Friendly: While based in New York City, Privy is remote-friendly but values creating an in-person culture when possible.
Diversity & Inclusion: The company values diverse perspectives and aims to build software that reflects nuanced positions on user experiences.
Privy's culture is highly rated by employees; it holds a 4.6-star rating on Glassdoor, reflecting high employee satisfaction.
Privy's user base consists primarily of small e-commerce merchants:
Over 500,000 merchants across more than 180 countries use Privy’s tools.
The platform is especially popular among Shopify merchants—Privy is one of the top-rated apps on the Shopify App Store with over 19,000 five-star reviews.
In addition to its product offerings, Privy fosters an active community through educational resources:
Learning Center: A hub offering tutorials, masterclasses, blogs, and podcasts (e.g., The E-commerce Marketing Show), all aimed at helping small businesses grow their online presence.
This strong community focus helps users maximize the value they get from the platform while building long-term relationships with their customers.
Privy
By Privy Operations, LLC
