US-based voice analytics technology developer Cogito received $37m in series C funding yesterday from investors including Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of enterprise software provider Salesforce.
Investment banking firm Goldman Sachs led the round through its Growth Equity fund, while venture capital firm OpenView Venture Partners also participated.
Cogito has developed a software platform for sales professionals that uses artificial intelligence and behavioural analytics to interpret involuntary cues in a customer’s speech pattern to detect frustration or calculate the likelihood that a sale will close.
The software provides real-time feedback to call centre staff on how to adapt their approach and alerts supervisors to poor customer experience, giving them the chance to jump in on a call.
The technology is also aimed at the healthcare sector where it can be used to predict which patients would benefit from an increased outreach and give care professionals guidance on how to boost empathy. The funding will drive product development and company growth.
Cogito was spun out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Media Lab in 2007. It closed its $19.1m series B round after raising a $4.1m extension from undisclosed backers in January 2017.
The company had raised an initial $15m in a November 2016 close led by OpenView, with participation from Romulus Capital and Salesforce Ventures.
Cogito had previously received $1m in funding in May 2016, according to a regulatory filing, the investment following a $5.5m series A round led by Romulus Capital and backed by Salesforce Ventures in 2015.
Summer@Highland had invested $20,000 in Cogito in 2007 as part of the company’s participation in its accelerator. Cogito attracted another $1m in seed capital in 2014.