Salesforce Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of customer relationship management software provider Salesforce, led a $23.8m round for US-based customer engagement technology developer SessionM on Monday.
The round also featured growth equity firm General Atlantic as well as sport, entertainment and media-focused investment fund Causeway Media Partners and venture capital firms CRV, Highland Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB).
SessionM has built a customer data and engagement platform that studies transaction and behaviour-focused data in real time and uses artificial intelligence to send customers offers or recommendations based on their preferences.
Lars Albright, co-founder and CEO of SessionM, said: “It is extremely gratifying when some of the best and most innovative companies in the world look to SessionM to help them solve their most pressing initiatives around personalisation and customer engagement.
“With this investment, we will be able to deliver even more product innovation, consultative support and global scale.”
The company has now raised more than $97m in funding, $35m of which came in a 2016 series D round led by General Atlantic that included Salesforce Ventures, Causeway Media Partners, CRV, Highland Capital Partners and KPCB, valuing it at $205m.
The latter four had also invested in SessionM’s $12m series C round the year before, alongside NTT Docomo Capital, the investment vehicle for mobile network operator NTT Docomo, and VC firm Commerce Ventures.