Open source, highly secure collaboration platform Rocket.Chat has raised $19 million, more than double its previous total of $7.9 million.  The system positions itself as a Slack alternative that supports all types of communications, integrates easily with other platforms, and protects privacy by letting users host their own data.  The Brazil-based company says the system is installed on 845,000 servers in 150 countries.

Twitter has purchased email newsletter technology vendor Revue.  It may seem an odd adjunct to Twitter’s core business, but the company points out that many journalists rely on Twitter as a source and outlet, so newsletters will help them further interact with their audiences.

Twilio is adding ‘contextual awareness’ to its Segment CDP, which in plainer English means data stored in Segment will be available when creating event-triggered, real-time messages. This and a redesigned journey architecture are part of Twilio’s “next generation” customer engagement platform, which also includes natural voice AI agents, voice and text analytics, and RCS and WhatsApp messaging. Twilio separately announced a multi-year partnership with Microsoft to speed the adoption of conversational AI for customer engagement.