Firefly acquired by Pegasystems

Co-browsing startup Firefly was acquired Monday by Pegasystems, a Cambridge-based, publicly-traded enterprise software company, for an undisclosed amount, according to a release.

Founded by a pair of Penn students while they were still in school, the University City-based Firefly lets users see what’s on another user’s browser. Their customers, which will become Pegasystems’ customers as part of the sale, include thousands of small and medium businesses, thousands of financial advisors, one top-10 U.S. retailer and the state of Washington, which uses Firefly for its healthcare exchange, said CEO Dan Shipper.

As a result of the sale, Firefly’s product will be incorporated into Pegasystems’ customer support platform, but it’ll also continue to be run as a standalone product, the announcement said.

The company was completely bootstrapped except for a $20,000 investment from First Round Capital’s Dorm Room Fund, a student-run firm that invests in student-founded companies. The Dorm Room Fund said it could not disclose numbers on a return.

Firefly’s two full-time staffers, cofounders Shipper and Justin Meltzer, will join Pegasystems in its New York City office, Shipper said. Its three contractors will join Pegasystems as contractors, he said. Founded in 1983, Pegasystems has more than 2,600 employees in offices around the world.

One reason the acquisition was the right move? Firefly will get access to Pegasystems’ 24/7 customer service line, which means that Firefly’s cofounders won’t have to play that role themselves, Shipper wrote on his blog.

Shipper, 22, graduated from Penn this spring. That Shipper and cofounder Meltzer did not drop out of college to pursue their tech company has been a point of pride for the cofounders, and First Round Capital partner Josh Kopelman. The company was headquartered in First Round Capital’s University City office.

Read more on the Firefly blog.

Read more on Kopelman’s blog.