Smarsh
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Financial services, public sector |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Stephen Marsh |
| Headquarters | 851 SW 6th Ave #800, , |
Number of locations | 11 |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Key people | |
| Products | Communications capture Regulatory archiving Communications surveillance eDiscovery Call recording and analytics |
Number of employees | 1,400 (2026) |
| Parent | K1 Investment Management [1] |
| Website | https://www.smarsh.com |
Smarsh Inc. (stylized as smarsh) is an American AI-powered software company that develops software for communications compliance, archiving, supervision, and electronic discovery.[2][3][4] The company provides products that are used mainly by organizations in regulated sectors, especially financial services and government.[5]
Smarsh was founded in 2001 and initially focused on email archiving before expanding into web archiving, mobile and voice capture, cybersecurity, and AI-assisted surveillance through a series of acquisitions.
History
[edit]The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York in 2001.[6] The founder, Stephen Marsh, believed that the financial industry needed a better way to archive, store, and regulate its data as regulations required.[7] In 2004, the company relocated its headquarters to Portland, Oregon.[8]
In 2012, Quest Software, which owned 60% of Smarsh, was sold to Dell Computer.[8] In 2013, Dell sold its stake to California investment firm Toba Capital.[8]
In 2018, K1 Investment Management acquired Actiance and merged with Smarsh shortly after.[9]
In 2020, Kim Crawford Goodman joined Smarsh as their new CEO.[10]
In 2024, Smarsh entered a five-year strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services to develop generative AI offerings for financial services.[11]
Acquisitions
[edit]Smarsh has acquired a number of companies since its founding in 2001.
| Date | Acquisition | Added value | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | CentraScan | Email management service | [7] |
| 2008 | Financial Visions Inc. | Website compliance | [7] |
| 2008 | iNation, LLC | Financial CRM | [7] |
| 2012 | Perpetually | Web archiving | [12] |
| 2015 | Presensoft | Cloud-based instant message archiving | [13] |
| 2016 | MobileGuard | Mobile communication monitoring and retention | [2] |
| 2017 | Cognia | Improve Smarsh’s voice communication capabilities for mobile and landline devices | [14] |
| 2018 | Actiance | K1 Investment Management acquired Actiance Inc. and merged with Smarsh | [9] |
| 2020 | Digital Reasoning | Natural language processing and machine learning application, was added to Smarsh’s portfolio to expand AI-driven analysis and risk detection services | [15] |
| 2020 | Entreda | Integrated cybersecurity risk and compliance management software and services | [16] |
| 2021 | Privva | Cybersecurity risk assessment platform, integrated with Entreda | [17] |
| 2022 | Digital Safe | Archiving and risk management portfolio from Micro Focus | [18] |
| 2024 | TeleMessage | Archives Signal conversations | [19] |
| 2025 | CallCabinet | AI voice recording and cloud analysis software | [3] |
Operations
[edit]When first founded, Smarsh offered email archiving and compliance recordkeeping services. By 2012, American Banker reported that the company began preserving complex web content, including links, video, and social-media-related material, in response to regulatory scrutiny of digital communications.[20]
Smarsh uses its “software as a service" (SaaS) platform to manage cloud-based messages across 100+ channels, including email, social media, mobile/text messaging, web and voice channels. It works with governance and supervision, enabling organizations to manage risk while capturing, retaining and archiving records.[3][4] Since the 2020s, the company has integrated AI tools for risk detection analysis and customer support.[21]
Reception
[edit]Smarsh was listed as one of the Gartner Magic Quadrant leaders for Digital Communications Governance and Archiving in 2024 and 2025.[22]
In 2025, Amazon Web Services named Smarsh as its “Vertical Technology Partner of the Year” and USA Today included the company on its “Top Workplaces” ranking.[23][24] Smarsh was also listed on Inc.’s 5000 list for its 18th consecutive year.[25]
References
[edit]- ↑ Miller, Ron (15 November 2017). "Two Compliance Companies Merge to Build a $100M Firm". TechCrunch. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- 1 2 Spencer, Malia (December 8, 2016). "Smarsh Beefs Up Mobile Archiving Abilities". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- 1 2 3 "Smarsh Acquires CallCabinet to "Transform" AI-Powered Voice Compliance in Customer Experience". CX Today. February 4, 2025. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- 1 2 "Smarsh Introduces Groundbreaking Text Message Archiving Solution for Federal Government". Corporate Compliance Insights. July 1, 2020. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Company Overview". Bloomberg Business. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ↑ Rogoway, Mike (June 13, 2013). "Smarsh, An Archivist for the Information Age". Oregon Live. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- 1 2 3 4 Earnshaw, Aliza (April 20, 2008). "Smarsh expects to double revenue to $10M". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- 1 2 3 Rogoway, Mike (November 5, 2013). "Dell Sells its Majority Stake in Smarsh to Investment Fund Toba Capital". Oregon Live. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- 1 2 "Smarsh to merge with Actiance in bid to become a $100M compliance powerhouse". SiliconANGLE. 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ↑ "Smarsh Welcomes Kim Crawford Goodman as New Chief Executive Officer". Smarsh. Retrieved 2025-06-24.
- ↑ "Smarsh and AWS Strengthen Partnership with New 5-Year Agreement". AWS. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ Cook, Jordan (May 16, 2012). "Smarsh Acquires Former TC50 Finalist Perpetually, Founder Thanks NY Tech Scene". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ↑ Spencer, Malia (February 4, 2015). "Smarsh Buys Houston-Based Archiving Firm". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ↑ Spencer, Malia (17 August 2017). "Smarsh buys London voice archiving firm". Portland Business Journal. Retrieved 5 December 2024.
- ↑ Davis Janowski (November 10, 2020). "Smarsh to Acquire AI Pioneer Digital Reasoning". Wealth Management. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Smarsh acquires cybersecurity compliance and risk analytics firm Entreda". SiliconANGLE. 2020-05-21. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
- ↑ Davis Janowski (November 1, 2021). "Smarsh Subsidiary Entreda Acquires Privva". Wealth Management. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ Joyce Wells (November 4, 2021). "Smarsh acquires Digital Safe product line from Micro Focus". KM World. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Smarsh Completes Acquisition of TeleMessage, Extends Communications Compliance Leadership". Smarsh. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
- ↑ John Adams (June 7, 2012). "New Technology Emerges to Archive Web Pages". American Banker. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ Thor Olavsrud (September 4, 2025). "Smarsh turns to Salesforce AI agent for customer service". CIO. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ Michael Hoeck; Jeffrey Hewitt (December 4, 2025). "Magic Quadrant for Digital Communications Governance and Archiving Solutions" (PDF). Gartner. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ Andrew Somera (December 1, 2025). "Announcing the 2025 Geo and Global AWS Partners of the Year". AWS. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ↑ "Top Workplaces". Top Workplaces. Retrieved June 21, 2026.
- ↑ "No. 3,437". Inc. Retrieved June 21, 2026.