Klaviyo has agreed to acquire Agency, an artificial intelligence customer support startup founded by veteran technology entrepreneur Elias Torres, bringing him on board as the e-commerce marketing platform's new chief product officer. The deal was first reported by TechCrunch and confirmed by other outlets tracking the transaction.
Under the terms of the agreement, which have not been disclosed publicly, Torres will lead Klaviyo's agent product line once the deal closes, expected in the third quarter of 2026. That portfolio includes Composer and Customer Agent, tools designed to automate parts of customer communication for online retailers.
A founder who keeps building
Torres is well known in American technology circles as a repeat founder. He previously co-founded Performable, a marketing analytics company that HubSpot acquired in 2011, and later helped build Drift, a conversational marketing platform where he served as chief technology officer for eight years before its sale to the private equity firm Vista Equity Partners for $1.2 billion in 2021. He launched Agency three years ago to build AI agents for customer support and sales teams.
Agency had raised $32 million from investors including Sequoia, Menlo Ventures and Felicis before agreeing to be absorbed into Klaviyo, according to reporting from Ukrainian outlet Mezha, which cited TechCrunch's original account of the deal.
Betting on AI agents for online retailers
Klaviyo, which serves more than 205,000 paying business customers and offers over 350 software integrations, is one of the larger players in marketing technology for online retailers. The acquisition signals its ambition to compete more aggressively in the fast-growing market for AI agents, software systems that can handle customer queries, sales conversations and support tickets with limited human intervention.
“"Elias has been at the forefront of AI agents for support and sales for years," said Andrew Bialecki, Klaviyo's co-founder and chief executive. "Together we're going to build on that momentum and enhance the experience our agents can provide for the businesses Klaviyo serves."”
Torres described the move as a natural extension of what he had already built at Agency. "By joining Klaviyo, I get the other half, an understanding of consumer behaviour that nobody else has, and the ability to scale faster," he said.
For European and other international retailers who rely on Klaviyo's email and SMS marketing tools, the deal points to a broader industry shift. Large technology companies are racing to fold AI agents into everyday commerce software. Meta, for instance, recently unveiled its own Business Agent platform for WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram at an event in London, aimed at automating bookings, sales and lead qualification for merchants across Europe and beyond.
What it means for retailers
Klaviyo's leadership has framed the acquisition less as a defensive move and more as an effort to widen its reach. Bialecki told TechCrunch the company wants to bring Agency's technology "to 200,000 businesses, and hopefully to millions more over the next couple of years." For merchants using Klaviyo across Europe, North America and beyond, that suggests AI-driven customer support tools may become a standard part of the platform rather than an optional add-on in the near future.
No details have yet been released on pricing, timelines for rolling out the combined technology, or whether Agency's existing customers outside Klaviyo's network will be affected once the deal closes.
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