Melbourne's DiUS sells Pactflow platform to software development tools vendor Smartbear

Melbourne-based IT consultancy DiUS has sold its contract-testing collaboration platform Pactflow to US-based software development tools vendor Smartbear for an undisclosed sum.

DiUS founded Pactflow in 2019 to commercialise its contract testing collaboration software, which was developed on top of the open source software (OSS) contract testing framework Pact.

Smartbear said the acquisition helps the company bolster its API development platform, and Pactflow also aligns with key API initiatives, Developers Choice, Open and Universal and Enterprise Ready.

“Pactflow is a great example of our commitment to OSS, the startup ecosystem and to solving complex problems for our customers,” DiUS co-founder and chief executive Joe Losinno said.

“We’re looking forward to watching Pactflow grow further within SmartBear, whilst becoming a foundation services partner, helping implement contract testing with Pact and Pactflow to help customers around the globe.”

Pactflow is DiUS’s second startup to be spun out after Datarock, a joint venture with Solve Geosolutions that provides machine learning solutions to accelerate resource intensive tasks for the mining industry. The company secured a 30 percent stake from global mining technology company Imdex.

Pactflow co-founder Matt Fellows said, “We could not be more excited to join the SmartBear team.”

“There is a great synergy with the multi-protocol approach SmartBear has taken with their API tools and Pactflow contract testing, especially where customers are driving for more integrity in their microservices architectures. This, coupled with our joint commitment to open source, positions SmartBear and Pactflow customers well for the future.”

Smartbear chief executive Frank Roe said, “We are thrilled to add Pactflow and OSS Pact to the SmartBear API Development Platform, providing developers with a critical emerging capability to speed API development and deliver high-quality services.”

“As organisations move quickly to digitally transform, SmartBear, with the addition of Pactflow, will drive even greater value to our customers, ensuring we continue to meet organisations wherever they are in their software development and API journey.”