Bitly Emerges as Global SaaS Leader with Acquisition of Egoditor

With 325,000 Paying Customers, 5 Million Active Users and 10 Billion Monthly Clicks and Scans, the Company is Profitable and Has Achieved Over $75 Million in ARR

NEW YORK – December 1, 2021 –  Bitly Inc., the world’s leading link management platform, announced today the acquisition of Egoditor GmbH, the world’s leading QR Code platform. The acquisition expands Bitly’s position as a global Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company that enables hundreds of thousands of organizations to engage their customers and millions of people to connect with digital experiences. Bitly is also introducing its Connections Platform, an all-in-one Link Management, QR Code and Link-in-bio platform, developed based on the feedback from the company’s customers.

What the Acquisition Means

Post acquisition, Bitly will have over 325,000 paying customers, more than 5 million active users, close to 20 million website visits, and more than 10 billion clicks and scans every month. The combined company will have approximately 180 employees, is profitable, growing quickly and has achieved over $75 million in ARR.

“We’re leveraging Bitly’s high growth position in link management to move strategically into closely related categories, such as QR Codes and our recently launched link-in-bio offering,” said Toby Gabriner, CEO of Bitly. “We saw tremendous response from customers for our own early-stage QR Code offering. The acquisition of Egoditor, the leading company in the space, is a natural next step in Bitly’s evolution and marks an exciting growth area for the company. Combining the two entities allows us to introduce synergistic products within a single unified platform, tap into accelerating markets, and expand our global footprint.”

„We saw tremendous response from customers for our own early-stage QR Code offering. The acquisition of Egoditor, the leading company in the space, is a natural next step in Bitly’s evolution and marks an exciting growth area for the company.“

Toby Gabriner | CEO of Bitly

Headquartered in Bielefeld, Germany, Egoditor provides customers with an end-to-end solution for the design, delivery, management, and analytics of QR Codes. Egoditor’s products include its flagship QR Code Generator, as well as other various properties.

“We are extremely proud of what we’ve built at Egoditor and are excited to integrate our QR Code platform into Bitly’s Link Management and Link-in-bio offerings to enhance and facilitate the customer experience with an all-in-one solution,” said Nils Drescher, co-founder of Egoditor. “Bitly’s mission to be a catalyst for connections matches perfectly with our goal to help customers connect the physical and digital worlds.”

„Bitly’s mission to be a catalyst for connections matches perfectly with our goal to help customers connect the physical and digital worlds.“

Nils Drescher | Co-founder of Egoditor

Introducing the Bitly Connections Platform

Bitly is also introducing a new comprehensive Connections Platform in response to the growth trajectory of the link-in-bio market, the rapid global adoption of QR Codes, and customer feedback for a unified solution for “everything link related.”

Through a mix of new product launches and strategic acquisitions, Bitly is solidifying its path to a unified “all-in-one” SaaS platform offering with three separate, but integrated products: Link Management, QR Codes, and Link-in-bio. The Bitly Connections Platform will enable users, brands and businesses of all sizes to engage their customers anywhere at scale. Audiences can discover and explore more content, and companies can use branded links and QR Codes as a trusted gateway for delivering critical notifications, information, and experiences.

Bitly continues to be supported by majority investor, Spectrum Equity, a leading software and information services growth equity firm, and is represented by Pete Jensen and Parag Khandelwal, on the Board of Directors.

For more on Bitly’s vision, please see the blog posted by Bitly CEO Toby Gabriner.

About Bitly

Bitly is a leading global SaaS company offering a comprehensive platform designed to enable every piece of information shared online to connect with key audiences and ignite action. Bitly’s all-in-one platform empowers more than 5 million monthly active users and over 325,000 customers globally – people, influencers, brands, and businesses of every size – to use branded links, custom QR Codes, and link-in-bio solutions as a trusted gateway for engaging their audience and delivering critical notifications, information, and experiences. For more on Bitly, visit https://bitly.com/.

About Egoditor

Egoditor GmbH is the international SaaS provider behind qr-code-generator.com and the all-in-one QR Code marketing platform, QR Code Generator PRO. Founded in 2009 by Nils Engelking and Nils Drescher as a two-man startup in Bielefeld, Germany, Egoditor was an early adopter of QR Code technology. Growing demand for simpler digital tools paved the way for the QR Code Generator to become an industry leader, now serving more than ten million users in more than 190 countries. Clients range from SMB in all industries to global brands and non-profit organizations. Among them are Starbucks, Zalando, Salvation Army, Accor, and GAP. In addition to the free generator tool – offered in more than 30 languages – Egoditor provides a professional service for custom QR Codes, multilingual customer support, and a detailed scan tracking tool. Ultimately, Egoditor aims to make mobile marketing valuable and accessible to everyone, one scan at a time.

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Contact
Kat Eller Murray
ROAM Communications for Bitly
415.684.8528
kat@roamcomms.com