Top 10: Customer engagement software

2023. Customer engagement platform Beamer raises $20M



Beamer, a no-code platform designed for creating tools to assess and monitor product engagement, announced a substantial $20 million investment. Beamer offers a changelog and notification center, enabling developers to communicate product updates and present a roadmap outlining upcoming features. Through Beamer, users can collect feedback and reactions from customers, attempting to gauge user loyalty over time. Camber Partners founder and managing partner Scott Irwin notes that Beamer's success aligns with the broader industry trend of prioritizing customer retention. Supporting this observation, a recent survey by OneSignal, a customer engagement platform, revealed that 95% of product and marketing professionals consider retention to be either "very important" or "somewhat important" for their businesses.


2022. OneSignal lands $50M to automatically optimize SMS, in-app and email campaigns



Raising $50 million in a Series C funding round, OneSignal is a leading platform empowering mobile apps and other platforms with notification capabilities. As companies increasingly prioritize "owned channels" such as push notifications, emails, and in-app messages over paid advertising channels like Facebook Ads, there is a growing demand for technology that caters to the mobile-centric landscape. Unlike many existing solutions, OneSignal is specifically designed for a mobile-centric world. Its suite of tools enables businesses to automate message delivery across various channels, including SMS, email, app notifications, and in-app messages. With OneSignal, customers can consolidate their user communications within a centralized platform and tailor their campaigns based on insightful metrics, ultimately enhancing open rates and engagement.

2022. Customer engagement and retention platform CleverTap bags $105M



Customer engagement and retention platform, CleverTap, has successfully raised $105 million in funding. This startup offers cloud-based tools for customer management and engagement tracking, enabling clients to effectively nurture their user base and enhance their lifetime value. CleverTap leverages app data to provide personalized and contextual recommendations to clients, who can also utilize the platform for running campaigns to test new features and offerings. Originally launched in India, CleverTap is part of a growing cohort of SaaS startups gaining traction in the U.S., Europe, the U.K., and other international markets. With more than 1,200 customers, including prominent names like EA, TED, Gojek, Mercedes Benz, and Canon, spanning over 60 countries, CleverTap powers over 10,000 apps, marking its significant industry presence.


2022. Exotel raises $40M for its full-stack customer engagement platform



Exotel, a startup that provides clients with a comprehensive platform encompassing contact centers, APIs, voice and chat bots, has secured $40 million in financing. Their platform enables businesses to interact with customers through various touchpoints such as web chat, co-browsing, and videos, streamlining customer engagement. Exotel's approach involves integrating disconnected channels, bots, and applications, while also consolidating customer data from different teams. In a market where organizations are racing to establish or acquire tools for unified service centers, Exotel operates alongside major industry players like Microsoft, Amazon, Twilio, Salesforce, and Zoom.


2021. Online proposal platform Practice Ignition lands $50M to scale globally



Australia-based client engagement and commerce platform Practice Ignition has successfully secured $50 million in Series C funding. The company is determined to revolutionize the professional services sector by offering a comprehensive client engagement and commerce solution. Practice Ignition's all-in-one platform combines digital proposals, payments, and automated workflows, seamlessly integrating with popular business applications like Gusto, Xero, QuickBooks, and Zapier. This integration aims to streamline service-based commerce and reshape the way professional service businesses interact with their customers.


2021. Customer engagement platform Batch raises $23M



Batch, a customer engagement platform that has quietly operated for several years, recently secured $23 million in funding. Batch serves as a customer engagement solution, competing with Braze and other enterprise offerings from major players like Salesforce, Adobe, Oracle, IBM, and Microsoft. Whether you manage a newspaper app, a banking app, or an e-commerce app, the need to send push notifications to your customers can arise. Batch simplifies the management of such notifications at scale. You are relieved of the burden of ensuring that your servers can handle increased traffic and maintaining your push notification service. Building upon this core functionality, Batch has evolved into a captivating martech platform. It seamlessly integrates with your existing data sources, such as CRM, CDP, and analytics tools, enabling you to create segments, orchestrate notifications, retarget clients, and more, thereby enhancing your customer engagement efforts.


2021. Countable brings in $12M for virtual brand communities



Enterprise engagement company Countable has recently secured $12 million in Series A funding, enabling brands to establish more effective customer engagement strategies while showcasing their values and positions on various issues. Here's how the process unfolds: Countable collaborates with brands to define the desired appearance of their website, including setting goals, establishing timelines, and implementing feedback mechanisms. Once the website is launched, brands gain the ability to manage their audience, which encompasses employees, consumers, and partners. Countable goes beyond the traditional "like" button by enabling brands to promote actionable items and leverage the expansive "Causes" network, comprising over 190 million individuals. The company also offers analytics to brands, providing insights into community growth and strategies for driving revenue, enhancing customer retention, and fostering innovation. On the community side, members can actively engage with the brand, contribute video testimonials, and participate in events centered around the shared cause.


2021. Play2Pay raises $13M to convert mobile user engagement into bill payment



Play2Pay, a startup that aims to blend gamification and payments in a creative manner, recently secured $13 million in a Series A funding round. Play2Pay was founded with the belief that prepaid mobile phone users should have an alternative method to pay for their mobile phone service, and that wireless carriers would adopt an ad-funded business model. The company now asserts its position as the world's first "ad-supported payment rail," seamlessly integrated into the payment platforms of major service providers and financial institutions. Additionally, it claims to be the sole company that directly converts user engagement into bill payment.


2021. DealHub raises $20M for its sales platform



DealHub.io, a platform dedicated to helping businesses streamline their sales engagements, has successfully raised $20 million in a Series B funding round. The company positions itself as a 'revenue amplification' platform, referred to as 'RevAmp,' representing the next generation of sales and revenue operations tools. DealHub.io aims to provide businesses with a comprehensive understanding of buyers and their intentions, while also optimizing sales processes from proposal creation to pricing quotes, subscription management, and electronic signatures. The platform seamlessly integrates with popular CRM tools like Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, and Freshworks, as well as e-signature platforms such as DocuSign. By offering this all-in-one solution, DealHub.io empowers businesses to enhance their sales efficiency and effectiveness.


2021. Charles raises €6.4M to bring ‘conversational commerce’ to WhatsApp



Charles, a startup based in Berlin, has secured €6.4 million in funding for its "conversational-commerce" SaaS solution, targeting businesses interested in selling on popular chat apps like WhatsApp. Charles aims to boost conversion rates, enhance customer loyalty, and ultimately increase revenue for businesses. The SaaS platform seamlessly integrates chat app APIs, such as WhatsApp and Messenger, with shop and CRM systems like Shopify, SAP, and HubSpot. All of this is accomplished through a user-friendly interface. The primary objective is to simplify the process for businesses to engage with customers on the channels they already use, bridging the gap between sales inquiries, support, and actual conversions.


2021. SalesLoft raises $100M for its AI-based sales platform



SalesLoft, a sales platform that offers AI-powered tools to enable salespeople to effectively manage their sales processes virtually, has successfully secured $100 million in funding. The platform assists sales teams in various aspects, including lead generation and follow-up, virtual coaching tools for selling, and post-sales support. While initially focused on serving the mid-market segment, SalesLoft has expanded its reach to include larger enterprises as well. Notable customers of SalesLoft include Google, LinkedIn (which not only backs SalesLoft but also maintains a strategic partnership with the company), Cisco, Dell, and IBM. In a competitive landscape that includes Clari, Chorus.ai, Gong, Conversica, Afiniti, Outreach, and major players like Salesforce, SalesLoft continues to carve out its position in the market.


2020. GetAccept raises $20M to expand its sales platform for SMBs



All-in-one digital sales platform GetAccept has successfully secured $20 million in Series B funding. GetAccept offers a comprehensive range of features, including video capabilities, live chat, proposal design, document tracking, and e-signatures. By forging technology partnerships with CRM and sales automation platforms such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Microsoft Dynamics 365, GetAccept seamlessly integrates into companies' sales pipelines. It positions itself as a holistic sales platform, providing an alternative to using separate tools like DocSend, PandaDoc, Showpad, Highspot, DocuSign, and Adobe Sign. GetAccept's unique value proposition lies in its focus on sales representatives, equipping them with essential features that drive deal progression.


2020. iKala, an AI-based customer engagement platform, raises $17M



Taiwanese startup iKala has secured $17 million in Series B funding and plans to expand its operations into new Southeast Asian markets. iKala specializes in offering an artificial intelligence-based platform for customer acquisition and engagement. Its range of products caters specifically to e-commerce companies, including KOL Radar for influencer marketing and Shoplus, a social commerce service that focuses on Southeast Asian markets. iKala differentiates itself by implementing a cutting-edge DAA flywheel (Digitalization, Analytics, and Application flywheel) framework, which provides a clear roadmap and strategy for the adoption of AI technologies. This funding round will enable iKala to further its growth and extend its reach into new markets.


2020. Outreach nabs $50M for software that helps with sales engagement



Outreach, renowned for its popular suite of tools utilized by sales professionals to identify and engage with potential customers, while enhancing relationships throughout the sales process, has recently raised $50 million in a Series F funding round. The platform seamlessly integrates with an organization's existing CRM, whether it be Salesforce, Microsoft's CRM, Kustomer, or any other compatible system. It offers a comprehensive set of SaaS-based tools designed to assist in sourcing and tracking meetings, providing pertinent information about sales targets, and facilitating real-time communication through its communications manager for effective outreach calls and other forms of communication.


2020. MoEngage lands $25M for its mobile-first customer engagement platform



MoEngage, a startup dedicated to enhancing customer understanding and engagement, recently secured $25 million in funding. MoEngage provides a comprehensive product that enables clients to gain deeper insights into how their customers or users interact with their apps and websites. By consolidating these insights into a single dashboard, firms can effectively retain existing customers and optimize sales strategies. While competing with other startups like India-based Clevertap, MoEngage plans to utilize the new capital infusion to expand its customer base in North America and Europe.


2020. Dixa, a customer engagement platform, picks up $36M


Customer engagement platform Dixa has successfully concluded a Series B funding round, raising $36 million. Dixa aims to revolutionize customer service by utilizing technology that enables more personalized and effective customer support. Operating as a "customer friendship" platform, Dixa's cloud-based software seamlessly integrates across multiple channels, including phone, chat, email, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and SMS. Through its intelligent routing system, the platform ensures that support requests are directed to the appropriate personnel within an organization. In the broader market, Dixa competes with industry leaders such as Zendesk, Freshdesk, and Salesforce Servicecloud.


2019. Freshworks launches a load balancer for handling customer inquiries



Customer engagement software provider Freshworks has unveiled Omniroute, a new tool designed for customer service agents. Omniroute functions as a load-balancer, streamlining the routing of customer inquiries across multiple channels. Freshworks highlights the previous challenges faced by agents in transitioning between different types of inquiries and managers in effectively distributing the workload. Omniroute addresses these issues by automatically directing queries to the appropriate agent who possesses the necessary skills and availability, taking into account the specific nature of the inquiry. Notably, if you often find it frustrating when agents ask for your order number right after you've entered it into the system, Omniroute aims to alleviate this by displaying relevant information directly on the agent's screen.


2017. LogMeIn launches livechat software Bold360



LogMeIn, renowned for its collaboration and meeting tools, has set its sights on the untapped potential in the customer service and engagement market. To address this opportunity, they have introduced a comprehensive suite called Bold360, which empowers businesses to manage multiple communication channels, including chat and video. Bold360 aims to provide a unified interface that consolidates all customer touchpoints, enabling seamless interaction through chat, text, and video. Leveraging automation technology, Bold360 facilitates customer self-service support and streamlines agent workflows. The key challenge lies in whether LogMeIn can successfully navigate a competitive market and establish a unique customer engagement niche that complements existing systems in the field. Notably, Bold360 offers seamless integrations with Salesforce and Zendesk, allowing agents to consolidate customer data within a single interface, eliminating the need for manual data retrieval across multiple platforms.


2016. Liferay launched Digital Experience Platform



The Open source enterprise CMS provider, Liferay, has introduced its Digital Experience Platform (DXP). This platform is specifically designed to assist companies in creating and managing experiences that facilitate the entire customer relationship. It offers a comprehensive customer view that goes beyond marketing by integrating sales, marketing, support, and service teams. With DXP, companies can develop highly personalized experiences by targeting valuable information, offers, and resources to specific user segments and individuals. It also enables the creation of a unified customer profile that consolidates all interactions and significant data points. Furthermore, DXP provides access to engagement data such as views on video content, click-through rates on targeted materials, community participation, and social metadata.


2015. Customer engagement chat iAdvize grabs $16 Million



iAdvize, the company dedicated to improving your online customer service experience, has recently secured $16 million in funding. iAdvize offers an automated system that identifies visitors in need of assistance and promptly notifies your team members. This enables customer support representatives to engage with website visitors and address their queries. Currently, the product is utilized by 2,000 companies. In addition to its core functionality, iAdvize allows you to incorporate click-to-chat, click-to-call, and other interactive buttons on your website. Moving forward, the company plans to refine its platform by implementing comprehensive monitoring capabilities across web, mobile, and social networks. Twitter and Facebook support are currently being integrated, and there are exciting product announcements expected in early 2016. While iAdvize competes with LivePerson, a prominent American competitor boasting 18,000 clients, iAdvize is still relatively smaller compared to LivePerson and LiveZilla.


2015. Hootsuite now works with Instagram



Social media management platform Hootsuite has introduced integration with Instagram, expanding its capabilities. With this update, users can now conveniently schedule posts, publish images, monitor their Instagram feed, and engage with their audience directly from the Hootsuite dashboard, just like they do with other social networks. It is now possible to publish posts on Instagram instantly or schedule them for future publication. Managing multiple Instagram accounts is made easier as they can be accessed and managed from a single location. By engaging with the audience within the Hootsuite dashboard, users can foster community growth on Instagram. Collaboration is enhanced as secure access to Instagram can be shared with team members. Additionally, users can monitor competitors and identify engagement opportunities by creating search streams that track specific users, hashtags, and keywords.


2015. Zoho launched social media management service Zoho Social



Zoho has introduced an innovative social media marketing tool called Zoho Social. This comprehensive platform offers a real-time monitoring dashboard, enabling users to actively listen to conversations related to their brand or specific keywords. With instant notifications, users can stay updated and respond promptly to relevant discussions. Zoho Social also provides valuable pre-publishing insights by analyzing engagement from previous posts and audience activity. It offers information on the estimated percentage of the audience that will see a post at a given time, suggests optimal posting times, and allows for post scheduling. The Reports section offers a comprehensive view of social network-specific statistics and in-depth analytics, providing valuable insights into audience behavior and content engagement. Additionally, users can create customized reports that focus on the key metrics essential to their business. With Zoho Social, businesses can efficiently manage their social media presence, engage with their audience, and gain actionable insights to optimize their marketing strategies.