CyberGhost is one of the most popular VPN services available and the company behind it, Kape technologies, recently announced that it was acquiring ZenMate and its parent company ZenGuard, another VPN service in the market, which has been installed over 40 million times. Kape bought ZenMate with the purpose of expanding its European presence even further. Since Kape is focused on offering data protection solutions around the world, it is not strange to see that it aims to grow its customer base in Europe.
What changes can be expected?
ZenMate will keep its name and there won’t be significant changes for already-existing customers when it comes to their accounts. However, they can expect a better network and software in the near future, as Kape aims to bring new and advanced features. The combination of the infrastructure of the two companies should offer huge benefits for users and a growth for the business. The fact that Kape acquired ZenMater is not strange at all. This is a trend that is becoming more and more popular in the industry. There are many VPN services in the market, but the small providers are not in a position to compete with the leading names out there. VPNs have become incredibly popular and everyone wants to take advantage of this.
Even Symantec, which is behind the top antivirus solution Norton, has launched its own VPN solution: Norton WiFi Privacy. It also acquired SurfEasy, a VPN based in Canada. We also have Kaspersky Labs, getting into the market. This recognized Russian antivirus and security company launched its own VPN service: Secure Connection. Onavo, a VPN provider from Israel, was bought by Facebook and McAffee acquired TunnelBear and it aims to implement its technology into Safe Coonect, the VPN service that they already have.
As Kape’s acquisition of ZenMate shows, even companies that are already running successful VPN services, are interested in acquiring competitors to grow the3ir own established solution. We have seen other cases such as IPVanish’s parent company, StackPath acquisition of StrongVPN. Plus, according to some unverified reports, StackPath may even have some involvement in VPNHub the VPN recently launched by online adult content leading platform PornHub. Industry experts believe that we will continue seeing VPN companies acquiring competitor brands as part of a market consolidation strategy.
Experts and industry insiders have also pointed out that it is probably more cost effective to acquire small VPN firms than to invest huge amounts of money on advertisement campaigns. There are probably many small VPN services that have received offers from larger companies. While some of them may refuse at first, it is likely that in the end, many will accept the offers. In the meantime, considering the tough competition in the industry, many small firms will be just happy surviving.
