# Robert Vis

> Robert Vis is the Dutch co-founder and CEO of Bird, founded as MessageBird in Amsterdam in 2011. Previously co-founder and CEO of mobile-payments company Zaypay, he built a communications business around direct carrier connections, later expanding into email and customer software. He also co-founded People for People with Ali Niknam and Joris Beckers. Bird’s September 2026 announcements pair communications infrastructure for AI agents with $450 million in debt financing.

- **Role:** Co-founder & CEO at Bird
- **Organizations:** Bird (formerly MessageBird), Zaypay, People for People Foundation
- **From:** Amsterdam, Netherlands
- **Nationality:** Dutch
- **Education:** Y Combinator
- **Known for:** Built a global communications business from a messaging problem at Zaypay., Raised a $60 million institutional Series A in 2017 after years of bootstrapping., Led the $600 million SparkPost acquisition announced in 2021.

## Career timeline

- **Age 16** — Started a video-platform business at age sixteen, according to MT/Sprout’s biographical profile.
- **2011** — Zaypay sold to Mobile Interactive Group; MessageBird founded in Amsterdam.
- **2016** — MessageBird joined Y Combinator.
- **2017** — Raised a $60 million Series A with Accel and Atomico.
- **2021** — Announced the $600 million SparkPost acquisition and extended Series C to $1 billion.
- **2022** — Co-founded People for People with Ali Niknam and Joris Beckers.
- **2024** — Renamed MessageBird to Bird and launched Bird CRM.
- **2026** — Announced $450 million debt financing and the Agentic Harness platform on September 23.

## Achievements

- Built a global communications business from a messaging problem at Zaypay.
- Raised a $60 million institutional Series A in 2017 after years of bootstrapping.
- Led the $600 million SparkPost acquisition announced in 2021.
- Co-founded People for People Foundation.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Told Follow the Money that Bird’s announced departure from the Netherlands had not been implemented and described his earlier words as a warning.
- **2026-09** — Bird announced $450 million in debt financing and Agentic Harness on September 23; its release reported $165 million EBITDA for 2025 and 120 employees.

## Links

- Website: http://www.robertvis.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertvis/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/RobertDVis

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/robert-vis
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-12