Rebelmail Inc., a venture-backed marketing technology startup that does business as Rebel, today announced that it has been acquired five years after launching.

The company on the other end of the transaction is Salesforce.com Inc., which will use the startup’s software to bolster its Marketing Cloud. Rebel has developed a set of services that enable brands to embed various interactive elements into the emails they send to customers and prospects.

Chief among the features that the startup provides is the ability to process in-mail transactions. Brands can create promotional emails that enable recipients to purchase goods without leaving their inbox, which reduces the friction involved in the buying experience. The same idea lies behind the embedded e-commerce feature that Google LLC rolled out for YouTube ads earlier this week.

In addition to processing payments, companies can use Rebel to create emails that let users take surveys, book appointments and leave reviews among other actions. The startup provides a choice between accessing its features via a visual message editor or an application programming interface.

Rebel’s value proposition has won over some big-name brands. L’Oréal SA, eBay Inc., The Home Depot Inc. and Sonos Inc. are among the companies that have adopted its services.

The startup didn’t go into detail about what will happen with the offerings in the wake of the Salesforce acquisition. They will presumably be integrated with the existing email features in the company’s Marketing Cloud, which provides a drag-and-drop interface for creating personalized messages and analytics tools that track campaign performance.

The deal comes not long after Adobe Systems Inc. announced new email capabilities for its rival marketing platform. The company introduced a drag-and-drop message editor, as well as two experimental tools that use artificial intelligence to help with decisions such as determining the best time to contact a prospect.

Bringing Rebel into the fold will enable Salesforce to open a new front against Adobe in an area that’s emerging as an increasingly important part of its business. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Image: Rebel