WSO2 has announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based startup, Moesif. It is an all-cash deal for an undisclosed amount and is the first acquisition since the company was acquired by EQT in 2024. As part of the deal, Moesif will continue to operate as an independent company under WSO2’s API Management Business Unit.
Dr. Sanjiva Weerawarana, Founder and CEO of WSO2, said, “This acquisition is a first step in our strategy to establish WSO2 as a global technology leader through select inorganic opportunities.
“Moesif brings market-leading capabilities in API analytics and monetisation, areas that are increasingly critical to digital businesses today. This is just the beginning—we’re committed to exploring further opportunities that align with our long-term goal to help enterprises deliver seamless, high-impact digital experiences.”
Who is Moesif?
Moesif describes itself as an “API Analytics service helping everyone at API-driven organizations learn from their API data and make smarter decisions that drive growth.” It has 13 products across three categories; API observability, API monetisation and customer experience.
It targets any organisation that wants to know more about and earn from its APIs. That, in today’s software driven world, is every organisation. APIs are a key part of any integration strategy and many organisations have a poor grasp of what they have. That is where Moesif sits.
Its observability tools provide organisations with an in-depth understanding of their APIs and how they are being used. Understanding that usage, internal and external, is central to better security and management of APIs. For security teams, it allows them to see who is using APIs, what they are doing and detect where the vulnerabilities are.
Monetisation of APIs is an increasing part of revenue streams for organisations. The Moesif tools enable usage-based billing and support the creation of product catalogues. Importantly, they also support security teams by providing governance tools. These ensure that attempts to abuse APIs are spotted through the monetisation and observability channels.
The customer experience tools also support security and usage issues. They provide teams with the ability to deliver behavioural guides to customers so they are not flagged as malicious. They also deliver a set of metrics that can be used to track how APIs are being used. These enable organisations to determine the effectiveness of their APIs.
Why is WSO2 acquiring Moesif?
WSO2 is not an acquisition-hungry company. It has preferred to grow organically over the years. Its acquisition by EQT meant that the company had an owner with the finances to support its expansion, and so far, that has been about sales teams and product development.
Now it is time to look more widely at acquisitions, and that is what this is. It is not an acquihire or a customer base grab. WSO2 is taking on the whole of Moesif, employees, products and customers. It is also allowing it to operate as a separate self-contained entity, at least at the moment. How that works out, we will have to wait and see.
What is interesting is that while there is some overlap in terms of the API management tooling, there are also differences. The depth of the Moesif observability, monetisation and other tools enhances the existing WSO2 products. That means this is a net technology gain for the company.
However, where there are overlaps, the company will have to decide how to manage that. It has already said that there will be integration of Moesif products into the WSO2 product line but has given no timeline. That is something that customers of both companies will want to hear.
With the companies running separately, there will also need to be coordination at the sales team level. That will be necessary to prevent them from competing for the same customers. It will need some cross-training on products for sales teams so that they are aware of each other.
WSO2 will also see an opportunity to upsell products from Moesif into the WSO2 customer base and vice versa. That will allow a quick ROI on the acquisition but, without knowing the price paid, it’s hard to know how quickly that will happen.
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
This is a good move for both companies. The combined customer base offers plenty of upsell and cross-selling opportunities. It widens the offerings to customers and that can only be good news for them.
However, there are mixed messages in the announcement. On one hand, Moesif will operate as an independent subsidiary. That implies it will be business as usual. However, there is also talk about the integration of products into a single product line. That will be disruptive, take time and customers will want to see details of that roadmap.
There will also be questions about rationalisation of staff numbers. As products are integrated, so will processes such as sales, support and administration. Staff, customers and competitors will be watching to see what happens and when.
Despite these concerns, this is a net positive move for both companies and their customer base.
