SAP SE has inked a $1.5 billion deal to acquire WalkMe Ltd., the developer of a software-as-a-service platform that makes enterprise applications easier to use.

The companies announced the deal this morning. SAP’s $1.5 billion offer values Tel Aviv-based WalkMe at $14 per share, a 45% premium to its Wednesday closing price.

“By acquiring WalkMe, we are doubling down on the support we provide our end users, helping them to quickly adopt new solutions and features to get the maximum value out of their IT investments,” said SAP Chief Executive Officer Christian Klein.

WalkMe launched in 2011 and received $307 million from investors over the subsequent decade. In 2021, the company listed its shares on the Nasdaq through an initial public offering that raised about $287 million. WalkMe’s namesake SaaS platform is designed for two main use cases: helping enterprises cut their software spending and make their customer-facing applications easier to use.

WalkMe’s platform can automatically map out the software products that an organization’s employees use and collect usage data about each application. That data includes, among other metrics, the number of employees who regularly interact with an application. Using the information from WalkMe, a company can identify if it may have bought more software licenses than necessary and adjust its procurement strategy accordingly.

WalkMe’s other focus area is helping enterprises make their applications more user-friendly. The platform can detect malfunctioning forms and other flaws in an application’s interface. It also spots more subtle issues, such as cases where a certain action takes too much time for users to complete.

To help companies further improve their applications’ usability, WalkMe provides a tool for implementing in-app guides. Those guides take the form of pop-up panels that appear at opportune moments to explain how an application feature works. Developers can also use WalkMe to integrate other types of pointers into a service’s interface, as well as customize that content for different users.

Another way companies make their applications easier to navigate is by adding an embedded chatbot. WalkMe’s platform includes a prepackaged artificial intelligence assistant that removes the need for developers to build one from scratch, thereby speeding up software projects. The company says that its chatbot can fetch information and automatically perform tasks such as opening support tickets.

WalkMe generated $68.6 million in revenue last quarter, up 6% from the same time a year earlier. As of March 31, the company’s installed base included 536 organizations that spend more than $100,000 annually on its software.

SAP expects to close the acquisition in the third quarter. From there, the software giant will use WalkMe’s technology to enhance two of its products: Joule and Enable Now.

Joule is a chatbot that SAP began rolling out across its software portfolio last year. It can automate tasks such as visualizing sales data in graphs and identifying the cause of merchandise delivery delays. SAP will also integrate some of WalkMe’s capabilities into its Enable Now offering, which allows companies to create in-app interface guides and other learning resources such as training courses.

Photo: SAP