Facebook to Buy Kustomer, Startup Valued at $1 Billion

Facebook said it would buy Kustomer, a startup that specializes in customer-service platforms and chatbots, part of an effort by the social-media giant to help companies use its platforms to do business. Though terms weren’t disclosed, people familiar with the matter said it would value New York-based Kustomer at a little over $1 billion. Closely held Kustomer, whose technology takes conversations from different channels and puts them on a single screen, was valued at $710 million in a private funding round roughly a year ago, according to PitchBook. Increasingly, customers are communicating with companies by messaging instead of calling. Facebook said more than 175 million people reach out every day to businesses using its WhatsApp messaging service.