Cisco Acquires Slido to Enhance Webex Engagement

Despite Zoom’s prominent position and substantial market presence in the videoconferencing sector, Cisco’s WebEx division has revealed an acquisition designed to reinforce its commitment to remaining a key player. The company is acquiring Slido, a platform that facilitates the moderation of questions and interactions within large virtual conferences and live events.

The financial details of the agreement have not been publicly released, though efforts are underway to obtain this information. Slido, headquartered in Bratislava, Slovakia, reportedly secured approximately $40,000 in external funding since its establishment in 2013, according to PitchBook data.

However, the company established a significant presence within the business community, serving a diverse clientele. These customers included numerous event organizers who utilized Slido for audience Q&A management – a service TechCrunch has previously employed – as well as governmental bodies and a wide range of other organizations. In total, Slido had accumulated 7 million users and operated as a profitable entity.

The completion of this acquisition is anticipated by May of the following year.

Slido’s core value lies in addressing a challenge common to all video conferencing platforms: managing engagement. While most platforms offer text-based chat alongside video, and traditional methods exist for soliciting questions from live audiences, handling substantial engagement volume can be difficult, particularly when presenting to large groups. Virtual environments are especially prone to disruptive “noise.”

Slido provides a solution by enabling participants to submit questions alongside the main event, with the ability for others to upvote questions they find most relevant, thereby prioritizing them. Moderators can also create polls and monitor real-time feedback to gauge audience sentiment. This approach minimizes distractions on the main video feed while still allowing audience participation and response.

Cisco plans to integrate Slido’s capabilities directly into WebEx, enhancing user engagement for the platform’s users. Importantly, Slido will continue to support integration with other conferencing tools, avoiding a closed ecosystem.

This acquisition coincides with another recent European-based purchase by Cisco, signaling a focused investment in engagement technologies. The company is also acquiring IMImobile, a U.K.-based specialist in omni-channel customer experience engagement, for approximately $720 million.

(This trend highlights the current importance of engagement, as demonstrated by SoftBank’s nearly-$700 million investment in Sinch, another omnichannel engagement specialist, and Salesforce’s acquisition of Slack to improve workforce engagement through a collaborative chat platform.)

Slido has recently become a valuable tool for managing engagement and facilitating question-and-answer sessions during large videoconferences with numerous attendees.

Cisco intends to incorporate Slido into its WebEx platform, allowing users to participate in polls, submit questions, and provide feedback. According to Abhay Kulkarni, VP and GM of WebEx, in a blog post announcing the acquisition, “The richness of this audience interaction technology will empower everyone to engage in new ways.” He further stated, “It’s a great mechanism for providing audience engagement in real-time.”

Updated to include additional details regarding Slido and its continued compatibility with third-party video platforms.