Smarsh Inc. (stylized as smarsh) is an American AI-powered software company that develops software for communications compliance, archiving, supervision, and electronic discovery.[3][4][5] The company provides products that are used mainly by organizations in regulated sectors, especially financial services and government.[6]
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.[4][5]
History
The company was founded in Brooklyn, New York in 2001.[7] The founder, Stephen Marsh, believed that the financial industry needed a better way to archive, store, and regulate its data as regulations required.[8] In 2004, the company relocated its headquarters to Portland, Oregon.[9]
In 2012, Quest Software, which owned 60% of Smarsh, was sold to Dell Computer.[9] In 2013, Dell sold its stake to California investment firm Toba Capital.[9]
In 2018, K1 Investment Management acquired Actiance and merged with Smarsh shortly after.[10]
In 2020, Kim Crawford Goodman joined Smarsh as their new CEO.[11]
In 2024, Smarsh entered a five-year strategic agreement with Amazon Web Services to develop generative AI offerings for financial services.[12] In 2025, Amazon Web Services named Smarsh as its “Vertical Technology Partner of the Year”.[13]
Acquisitions
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.
| Date | Acquisition | Added value | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | CentraScan | Email management service | [8] |
| 2008 | Financial Visions Inc. | Website compliance | [8] |
| 2008 | iNation, LLC | Financial CRM | [8] |
| 2012 | Perpetually | Web archiving | [14] |
| 2015 | Presensoft | Cloud-based instant message archiving | [15] |
| 2016 | MobileGuard | Mobile communication monitoring and retention | [3] |
| 2017 | Cognia | Improve Smarsh’s voice communication capabilities for mobile and landline devices | [16] |
| 2018 | Actiance | K1 Investment Management acquired Actiance Inc. and merged with Smarsh | [10] |
| 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 | [17] |
| 2020 | Entreda | Integrated cybersecurity risk and compliance management software and services | [18] |
| 2021 | Privva | Cybersecurity risk assessment platform, integrated with Entreda | [19] |
| 2022 | Digital Safe | Archiving and risk management portfolio from Micro Focus | [20] |
| 2024 | TeleMessage | Archives Signal conversations | [21] |
| 2025 | CallCabinet | AI voice recording and cloud analysis software | [4] |
References
- ^ a b “Smarsh Profile”. Inc.com. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Miller, Ron (15 November 2017). “Two Compliance Companies Merge to Build a $100M Firm”. TechCrunch. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ a b Spencer, Malia (December 8, 2016). “Smarsh Beefs Up Mobile Archiving Abilities”. Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c “Smarsh Acquires CallCabinet to “Transform” AI-Powered Voice Compliance in Customer Experience”. CX Today. February 4, 2025. Retrieved May 14, 2026.
- ^ a b “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.
- ^ a b c d Earnshaw, Aliza (April 20, 2008). “Smarsh expects to double revenue to $10M”. Portland Business Journal. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ^ a b c Rogoway, Mike (November 5, 2013). “Dell Sells its Majority Stake in Smarsh to Investment Fund Toba Capital”. Oregon Live. Retrieved April 8, 2017.
- ^ a b “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.
- ^ Andrew Somera (December 1, 2025). “Announcing the 2025 Geo and Global AWS Partners of the Year”. 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.