Hiver
4 known investors
Hiver is a SaaS customer service platform that turns Gmail shared inboxes into an omnichannel, AI-assisted help desk.
Also known as GrexIt · Hiver HQ
Investors · 4
Also in the syndicate · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Hiver is a software-as-a-service company that sells a customer service platform for teams handling shared email addresses such as support@, sales@, info@ and accounts@. The product originated as a Gmail browser extension that adds help-desk capabilities inside the inbox — email assignment, internal notes with @mentions, collision detection, templates, scheduling, shared drafts and rule-based automation for categorization and routing — and has since expanded into a broader omnichannel workspace covering email, live chat, Slack, voice, SMS, social channels and WhatsApp with unified conversation history.
The current platform is positioned around "agentic" support. It includes AI Agents that execute multi-step actions across connected systems (for example retrieving an invoice from an ERP, checking policy and issuing a refund in a payments tool), an AI Copilot that searches internal documentation, summarizes long threads and drafts replies for human approval, an AI Help Center that builds and maintains support articles from existing docs and resolved tickets, and AI Insights covering conversation topic categorization, customer health and sentiment tracking, and automated QA grading of agent responses. Guardrail and observability controls govern when AI acts autonomously versus handing off to a human. Cross-team collaboration features let users loop in colleagues, handle Slack conversations in-product and create linked issues in tools such as Jira, Asana and Linear. The company also offers Hiver Omni, a browser-based application that runs without the Gmail extension. Analytics track response and resolution times, ticket volume by channel and SLA adherence, with filtering by queue, assignee, tag and period.
Founding story
The company was founded in 2011 by Niraj Ranjan Rout and Nitesh Nandy as GrexIt. The product was first developed in 2010 while the founders were participating in The Morpheus startup accelerator, and the startup subsequently joined the Citrix Startup Accelerator. A beta launched in 2011 and the product was released publicly in 2012, centered on shared email labels that synchronized messages across team inboxes and a cloud-based shared email repository for organization-wide access to threads.
Business model
Hiver sells its platform as a subscription SaaS product, distributed both as a Chrome extension for Gmail and as a standalone browser-based application (Hiver Omni). Prospects can begin with a self-serve 7-day free trial without a credit card or request a guided demo.
Subscription software licensing to business teams, with a free trial funnel preceding paid plans.
Traction
The company reports 10,000+ teams using the platform and more than 2,000 customer reviews; the CEO's profile cites over 1,500 customers across 30 countries. Headcount is listed at approximately 200, with a self-reported band of 51-200.
Latest developments
Recent product work centers on agentic capabilities: AI Agents that resolve multi-step requests across channels and systems, AI Copilot drafting and investigation, AI-generated and self-maintaining help center content, AI Insights and AI QA, plus guardrails and observability over AI actions. A July 2026 product update added Slack collaboration, a Linear integration, AI QA and Unified Inboxes. Hiver Omni, an extension-free web app, is offered alongside the Gmail extension.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Hiver competes in the help desk and customer service software category, differentiating on a Gmail-native delivery model for teams standardized on Google Workspace. Independent reviews have characterized it as a capable Gmail-integrated help desk with limited customization options. The company's own content compares it with Freshdesk alternatives.
Hiver's core differentiator is operating inside Gmail rather than requiring teams to adopt a separate ticketing interface, combined with cross-team collaboration primitives (internal notes, in-product Slack threads, linked Jira/Linear issues) and AI agents that act across third-party systems under configurable guardrails and human review thresholds.
Technology
The product is delivered as a Chrome extension layered on Gmail and as a standalone web application. It integrates with systems including Salesforce, Shopify, NetSuite, Stripe, Jira, Linear, Google Sheets and data warehouses through native connectors, MCP and APIs, and can operate against legacy admin tools without APIs via browser-level interaction. AI Agents are grounded in institutional knowledge sourced from past tickets, Slack, Confluence, Notion, Sheets, PDFs and URLs, and follow user-defined Agent Operating Procedures. Automated functions classify incoming messages, detect intent and sentiment, route queries and update connected systems.
Go-to-market
Self-serve acquisition through a Chrome Web Store extension and 7-day free trial, complemented by booked demos with sales representatives, content marketing via the company blog, and presence in software review and directory listings.
Business teams that manage group email addresses — customer support, sales, accounting, recruitment, project management and operations functions — ranging from small teams to departments within large organizations, with usage spanning both SMB and enterprise-scale accounts.
Geography
Headquartered in San Jose, California, with operations in Bengaluru, India. A directory listing gives the HQ country as the United States, and the CEO is based in Los Gatos, California. Customers span 30 countries.
History
GrexIt operated as a small team — six people for an extended period — building a tool that let G Suite customers use Shared Labels to manage team email. In 2015 the product was renamed Hiver and broadened beyond inbox management into areas such as email project management. In 2017 the company launched Shared Inboxes, which drove markedly faster adoption, including organic spread from single teams to multiple functions inside large organizations. A $4 million Series A followed in October 2018 from Kalaari Capital and Kae Capital, $4 million in debt financing from Mars Growth Capital in February 2021, and a $22 million Series B led by K1 Capital in March 2022. By 2024 Hiver was described as an AI-enabled help desk for Google Workspace teams, and the company has since repositioned around agentic AI support.
Risks & controversies
The original GrexIt name drew press attention for its resemblance to the term for a Greek exit from the eurozone and was changed in 2015. Product reviews have noted limited customization. The product's historical dependence on Gmail and Google Workspace concentrates platform risk, which the standalone Hiver Omni app addresses.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 7
launches, deals, and filingsProduct update covering Slack collaboration, a Linear integration, AI QA and Unified Inboxes.
Hiver raised $4 million in debt financing from Mars Growth Capital.
$4M source ↗
Hiver launched Shared Inboxes, a feature enhancing Gmail so teams could manage shared email accounts such as support@, sales@ or accounts@. The company credits this release with accelerating adoption after several slower years.
In 2015 GrexIt renamed its product to Hiver, expanding functionality beyond email inboxes to include email project management among other services.
After joining the Citrix Startup Accelerator, the company received an undisclosed investment from Citrix and Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The product had initially been developed in 2010 while the founders participated in The Morpheus startup accelerator.
A beta version of GrexIt, aimed at enabling workplace collaboration inside email inboxes, was released in 2011; the product was publicly launched in 2012.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Hiver: Agentic Omnichannel Customer Service Platformhiverhq.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Hiver do?
- Hiver is a SaaS customer service platform that turns Gmail shared inboxes into an omnichannel, AI-assisted help desk.
- Who are Hiver's investors?
- Hiver's investors include Kae Capital, Kalaari Capital, Mars Growth Capital.