Syniverse has invested $45m (£31m) in mobile marketing firm Vibes, as part of a strategic partnership between the two companies.

The investment is for a minority stake in Vibes, and will be used to expand – along with the partnership – to internationally expand the US companys platform, which covers SMS, push notifications, mobile web campaigns and, most recently, mobile wallets.

Through the partnership, Vibes will gain access to Syniverses existing relationships with 1,000 mobile network operators. According to CEO and co-founder Jack Philbin, the emphasis of this deal is on moving outside of the US for the first time. “We expect to be launching in some markets by the end of this year,” he told Mobile Marketing. “I dont think that could have happened if wed done this on our own.”

For Syniverse, the deal will let it offer the Vibes platform to clients, significantly widening the product areas it currently operates in.

“There are messaging players out there, there are folks in mobile advertising, there are others that have mobile engagement claims,” said CMO Mary Clark, regarding why it chose this partnership. “But when we started to look at proof points and examples of success – particularly in the retail space – Vibes has a level of expertise we couldnt find replicated anywhere else.”

Clark also told us that the company is especially keen to expand into new verticals with this deal, beyond its current focus on telcos. As well as Vibes current specialism in retail – its clients include Chipotle, Sears and Home Depot – she singled out finance and travel as particular areas of interest for Syniverse going forward.