For 30 years the _Mohr Davidow Ventures team has invested in early stage technology-based startups that redefine or create large new markets. They believe that emerging information technology innovations are enabling a decade-long opportunity to invest in the “Era of Digital Engagement,” one in which personal, commercial, and public sector interactions of all kinds will be profoundly reengineered to leverage the power of mobile devices, cloud computing, and data analytics.  The Firm seeks to identify and partner with exceptional entrepreneurs who leverage these technologies to build companies where seamless, deep engagement with customers will create billion dollar markets in a number of different verticals. These verticals include: Digital Marketing, Advertising, & Media, Collaborative Enterprise Applications, The Digitization of Education and Health, Digital Financial Services, E‐commerce & Digital Retail Innovation, Mobile/Web‐Powered “LifeTech.” The Firm also has previous investments in the innovative life sciences & genomics space.  Leading companies funded by Mohr Davidow Ventures includes: Agile (Acquired by NYSE: ORCL); Aryaka Networks; Brocade; Coupa; Genomatica; HealthTap; Infusionsoft; Kabbage; nLight; ONI Systems (Acquired by NASDAQ: CIEN); Proofpoint (NASDAQ: PFPT); Rally Software (NYSE: RALY); Rocket Fuel (NASDAQ: FUEL); Rambus; Shutterfly (NASDAQ: SFLY); Ticketfly; Verinata Health (Acquired by NASDAQ: ILMN); and Visible Measures. The Firm has $1.85 billion under management.

Mohr Davidow Ventures

vSpring Capital and Signal Peak Ventures, both based in Salt Lake City, are combining as equal partners in a new investment firm that, effective immediately, will operate under the Signal Peak Ventures name, both companies announced Tuesday. No money was exchanged.  vSpring is a traditional early-stage venture capital firm with over $350 million of committed capital under management. Specifically, they target information technology and life sciences companies headquartered in the Intermountain West region. They look for companies with the potential to transform their markets and create lasting value. Their primary areas of focus include enterprise software, networking and communications, security software, Internet, mobile computing, drug discovery, drug delivery, diagnostics, and medical devices, all markets where the firm has deep experience.  Their strategy is to be the first investor in these companies and to provide a level of operational assistance that creates additional value. They take a labor-intensive, service-oriented approach by making early introductions to key customers and strategic partners and helping to recruit top executives and co-investors.

vSpring Capital

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. provides investment banking, securities, and investment management services, as well as financial services to corporations, financial institutions, governments, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Its Investment Banking segment offers financial advisory services, including advisory assignments concerning mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense, risk management, and restructurings and spin-offs; and underwriting services comprising public offerings and private placements of a range of securities, loans, and other financial instruments, and derivative transactions. The company’s Institutional Client Services segment provides client execution services, such as fixed income, currency, and commodities client execution related to making markets in interest rate products, credit products, mortgages, currencies, and commodities; and equities related to making markets in equity products, as well as executes and clears institutional client transactions on stock, options, and futures exchanges. This segment also engages in the securities services business providing financing, securities lending, and other brokerage services to institutional clients, including hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds, and foundations. Its Investing and Lending segment originates longer-term loans; and invests in debt securities, loans, public and private equity securities, real estate, consolidated investment entities, distressed assets, currencies, commodities, and power generation facilities. The company’s investment management segment provides investment products and services, as well as offers wealth advisory services, including portfolio management and financial counseling, and brokerage and other transaction services.

Goldman Sachs

Arthur Ventures leads investments in B2B software companies in every region of the U.S. and Canada.

Arthur Ventures

Bain Capital Ventures invests in seed to growth-stage startups that are using tech to disrupt existing markets or create entirely new ones.  The firm invests from seed to growth in enterprise software, infrastructure software, and industries being transformed by data.  Bain Capital Ventures has helped launch and commercialize 200-plus companies since 2000, including investments in DocuSign, Jet.com, Kiva Systems, LinkedIn, Rapid7, SurveyMonkey, Taleo, and TellApart. Bain Capital Ventures has more than $5.2 billion of assets under management with offices in San Francisco, New York, and Boston.

Bain Capital Ventures

Signal Peak is a venture capital firm with more than $550 million of committed capital under management. The fund invests in information technology companies and looks for entrepreneurial teams with the potential to transform markets and create lasting value. Specific areas of focus include Internet, SaaS, enterprise software, communications, security, and mobile computing—all markets in which the firm has deep expertise. Our strategy includes providing a level of operational assistance that creates additional value.  We take a labor-intensive, service-oriented approach by making early introductions to key customers and strategic partners, and by helping to recruit top executives and co-investors. Collectively, the Signal Peak team has founded and served as senior officers or board members in dozens of companies. The team has a combined history of successful company leadership and private equity investments that span over 60 years. As a result, our team has the resources, decision-making experience, and strategic relationships to meet the demands of today's passionate entrepreneurs.

Signal Peak Ventures

Allure Ventures event is at the center of everything we do. We are a multifaceted event entertainment company utilizing cutting edge photo and video technologies, along with good old-fashioned fun, to help you create a memorable event for your clients and guests. We're focused on the guest experience! We are active supporters of several professional trade organizations, associations and CVBs. We have built our business by developing close working relationships with professional meeting and event planners, as well as with other industry suppliers. We are especially proud to have been chosen as Outstanding Supplier in 2008-2009 as well as the Supplier of the Year 2005-2006 and again in 2010-2011 for the Orange County Chapter of Meeting Professionals International (MPI).

Allure Ventures Inc

ORIX USA is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with approximately 1,100 employees and principal offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Frankfurt, London, and Paris.

ORIX USA Corporation

Keap

Keap specializes in business automation and CRM software designed to help small businesses streamline operations and enhance customer relationships. The platform offers tools for email marketing, task management, and sales automation, enabling users to automate various business processes effectively.

<div>Known as Infusionsoft until early 2019, Keap is a CRM platform provider focused on non-employer SMEs in professional services. Keap has four products in its portfolio to cater to SMEs in different stages of growth: (i) Keap Lite, designed for solo entrepreneurs and new businesses, (ii) Keap Pro, targeted toward growing businesses with customized requirements, (iii) Keap Max, for established businesses and teams, and (iv) Keap Max Classic, designed for advanced ecommerce and sales team needs. Instead of trying to attract all SMEs, Keap is focused on small service providers who need a centralized tool to manage clients, set appointments, generate quotations and bills, and process payments along with lead generation management.&nbsp;</div>

Old CRMs were complicated, expensive, and limited. Simpler, cheaper CRMs targeting SMEs have arrived.

SME CRM

Thryv Holdings Announces Closing of Strategic Acquisition of Keap

EasyWebinar

To integrate Keap's CRM platform with EasyWebinar's livestreaming capabilities, enabling Keap users to host virtual sales and marketing events.

This type of CRM facilitates smooth business operations, by focusing on the automation of three main areas: sales, marketing and after-sales service. It automates the customer record creation process and daily tasks such as scheduling meetings, transitioning leads and generating sales reports. These CRMs also include marketing automation tools for complex email marketing campaigns. Customer service is also automated by the provision of self-service options via phone or laptop. This type of CRM is particularly useful for businesses involving heavy customer interaction.

<div>
 
 Known as Infusionsoft until early 2019, Keap is a CRM platform provider focused on non-employer SMEs in professional services. Keap has four products in its portfolio to cater to SMEs in different stages of growth: (i) Keap Lite, designed for solo entrepreneurs and new businesses, (ii) Keap Pro, targeted toward growing businesses with customized requirements, (iii) Keap Max, for established businesses and teams, and (iv) Keap Max Classic, designed for advanced ecommerce and sales team needs. Instead of trying to attract all SMEs, Keap is focused on small service providers who need a centralized tool to manage clients, set appointments, generate quotations and bills, and process payments along with lead generation management.&nbsp;
 
 
 Keap&rsquo;s CRM business automation tools allow users to automate a wide range of repetitive sales and marketing activities such as lead follow-ups and scheduling appointments. The Zapier integration allows the user to connect over 2,000 third-party apps to trigger automations in Keap more effectively. Keap Pro&rsquo;s and Keap Max&rsquo;s customizable ecommerce platform includes integration with payment processors such as PayPal, Stripe, and WePay. It also includes native Shopify integration and checkout forms with numerous features. In April 2024, Keap launched a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27127">
 community mobile app
 </a>
 to connect customers with partners.
 
 
 In March 2023, the firm 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17475">
 acquired Factory
 </a>
 , a developer and implementer of marketing automation solutions for SMEs in order to launch a new &ldquo;coaching plus service&rdquo; offering.
 
 
 Key customers and Partnerships
 
 
 As of January 2021, Keap served 125,000 SME customers and employed 360 staff.&nbsp;
 
 
 In July 2022, the firm launched 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11424">
 Keap marketplace
 </a>
 , a partner ecosystem giving users access to 100+ certified partners covering 25+ industries across a variety of use cases. The firm also claims to have introduced the industries first project matching service which allows users to post a description of the service they need in the Keap Marketplace and receive multiple bids from Keap service partners.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s most recent funding was in August 2020, where it raised USD 5 million in debt.
 
 
 
</div>

Benchmark Email is a sales and email marketing solutions provider for SMEs. The company also owns two CRM platforms - 1) BenchmarkONE, and 2) Contacts+. BenchmarkONE is an integrated CRM, sales, and marketing automation platform which helps users track, organize, and manage current and prospective customers. It was formed by the September 2019 merger of Benchmark Email and Hatchbuck and, as of September 2020, had 500,000 users worldwide.In February 2020, BenchmarkOne acquired MarketVolt, an email marketing platform, leading to the development of the K12 edition of the platform. This product helps educators, communicators, recruiters, and administrators automate repetitive tasks so they have more time to focus on teaching.Benchmark Email <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/469">acquired Contacts+ </a>, an SME-focused CRM platform that syncs contacts across Apple, Microsoft, and Google Workspace, in February 2021. Subsequently, BenchmarkEmail integrated Contacts+ with its entire suite of products including i BenchmarkONE, to help the company expand its market reach to Android and Apple users and give Benchmark Email access to Contacts+’s customer base of over 20,000.In addition, the firm has expanded its product offerings and automation capabilities by leveraging AI &amp; ML. This includes 1) smart sending AI, a machine learning tool in-built in its email automation solution to increase email deliverability (July 2022); 2) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12027">“Smart Content,</a>” an AI copywriting tool allowing users to use existing content to automatically generate ready-made content for email campaigns at scale (August 2022), and 3) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29885">Smart Design</a>, an AI-driven email creation tool which can generate branded email templates instantly (May 2024).Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32130">July 2024</a>, Benchmark Email, integrated with Canva, to allow users to design emails and images using Canva's AI-powered platform and easily send them through Benchmark's email platform.

Benchmark Email

Insightly is a developer of a cloud-based CRM platform focused on SMEs. Insightly’s CRM platform includes real-time lead routing, email management tools, dashboard to monitor key sales metrics, custom app creation tools, and tools to automate complex multi-step business processes. Insightly’s focus is on improving customer analytics to enhance customer experience (CX) and it does this through multiple integration features, which give users a wide range of flexibility. While its core integration is with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, Insightly can also integrate with 2000+ integrations including Xero, QuickBooks, Mailchimp, and Slack.&nbsp;Insightly’s three other products that can be be integrated with its CRM platform are 1) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5611">Insightly Service</a>— a customer service and support ticketing product that helps organizations resolve customer issues, share important customer insights across relevant departments in real-time, 2) Insightly Marketing— a marketing platform which includes tools to map customer journeys, email creation tools, options to capture feedback, and campaign management tools, and 3) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/477">AppConnect</a>— a no-code workflow automation platform which integrates finance, IT, marketing, HR, and other business apps with the Insightly platform. AppConnect provides more than 500 pre-built connectors to apps, including Google Workspace, SAP, PayPal, Shopify, Slack, and Dropbox and automates data transfers eliminating the need for professionals with coding skills and data tools. Insightly also provides a mobile app that includes flexible features for enhanced project management and data security.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32132">July 2024</a>, Insightly merged with Unbounce, a provider of landing page creation and optimization software to enhance its CRM and marketing capabilities. Insightly continued to maintain a standalone identity post merger.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2022, Insightly was used by 25,000+ customers including Bloomberg, Sanofi, and Bosch. The firm claimed that manufacturers experienced a 70% lift to ROI and a 58% growth in customer win-rates a a year after using Insightly’s CRM.nsightly also has partnerships with other apps such as Evernote, PandaDoc, Zapier, HubStaff, Proposify, Kixie, and Quotient. In November 2022, Insightly joined <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14991">Intuit’s QuickBooks solutions provider program </a>to integrate its CRM platform with QuickBooks accounting solutions.Funding &amp; financialsThe company’s last funding round was in April 2016, where it raised USD 25 million in a Series C financing round led by Scott Bommer, former founder of SAB Capital. The company was to use the funds to expand its CRM to service larger businesses and to build its direct sales team.

Insightly

Pipedrive is an activity-based CRM platform built around scheduling, tracking, and completing activities. It includes tools built specifically to analyze sales, generate leads, automatically schedule follow-ups, and help close deals efficiently at each stage of growth. The platform also integrates with more than 275 third-party apps and includes some of its internally developed add-ons such as LeadBooster—which is a lead generation tool containing a database of around 400 million lead profiles, 10 million company profiles, and Web Visitors—which helps enterprises analyze customer activity in their websites. In June 2022, the company expanded its suite of products with the addition of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10898?industryIds=8">campaign management tools, </a>Additionally, in September 2022, the firm announced the beta launch of a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13458?industryIds=8">workflow automation feature </a>under its “Campaigns by Pipedrive” solution. In May 2023, the firm launched a developer hub, a centralized online app development platform to enable its technology partners and developers to build new app integrations for Pipedrive’s marketplace.In .April 2024, it introduced <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28961">Pipedrive AI </a>, a suite of AI tools including an AI-powered sales assistant, AI-generated email writing, AI email summarization, AI smart app recommendations, and an AI-powered Marketplace search.Pipedrive has four standard plans (Essential, Advanced, Professional, and Enterprise), allowing users to subscribe to customizable plans based on individual requirements for specific features. In May 2023, the firm also launched a “Power best value plan” to enable SMEs to meet the specific requirements needed to scale their business operations. As of March 2023, Pipedrive has more than 100,000 SME customers worldwide, with an employee headcount of over 800. Key customers and partnershipsIn August 2023, Pipedrive <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21407">partnered with RapidVerify </a>to integrate the firm's identify verification solution to Pipedrive’s CRM platform. The new integration is expected to provide real-time verification and help mitigate potential risks of fraud.Funding and financialsIn November 2020, Pipedrive received a majority investment from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. While the amount of investment was not disclosed, it has resulted in Pipedrive achieving unicorn status, with an estimated valuation of USD 1.5 billion. The acquisition is expected to boost Pipedrive’s expansion capabilities outside of the US and Europe, the most recent of which was China in mid-2020. Pipedrive would continue to operate as a separate entity from Vista. However, this partnership would help Pipedrive optimize its product portfolio and expand its customer base by continually investing in the company’s go-to-Market engine.

Pipedrive

Streak claims to be the only SME CRM app that integrates entirely within Gmail inboxes. It allows users to simultaneously create emails for mass mail, while maintaining a personal touch. It also has an email tracker and spreadsheet features.

Streak

Formerly known as ProsperWorks, Copper is a CRM platform built with Google Workspace integration, which helps users make notes, follow up, and close sales directly from their Gmail accounts. Copper became the recommended CRM on the Google Workspace Marketplace in 2015 and was named Google’s Partner of the Year in 2016.The company was rebranded Copper after five years of operation in July 2018. Along with the name change, the company simplified its product and enhanced its Google Workspace partnership.Copper claims that its clients on average have experienced a 30% improvement in sales reporting, a 35% decrease in the sales cycle period, and 36% better response time to customers. As of Q3 2018, Forbes noted that Copper was winning over Salesforce customers in the SME market segment, driven by its affordable price and ease of installation.In February 2021, Copper acquired Sherlock, an engagement analytics and scoring platform (deal value undisclosed). Copper plans to integrate Sherlock into its current platform to help customers identify the best times for sales conversion, ensure lasting revenue, and build stronger relationships. The merger is expected to fill the growing demand for CRM systems to provide insights that drive meaningful actions. In addition, the firm has entered into product integrations to extend the use case of its product offerings, culminating in the lauch of its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13559">integration marketplace </a>in October 2022, providing users with access to 70+ integrations covering a variety of use cases including customer support, meeting scheduling, project management, and website tracking.Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2022, Copper counted more than 30,000 paid customers in 100+ countries and supported nine languages. Apart from SME users, In 2019, Copper was found to be the number one CRM for small to medium sized advertising agencies, with more than 900 agency customers.Apart from its longstanding partnership with Google, Copper has its own partner program which it revamped alongside its rebranding to include higher margins (up to 30%) for resellers, focusing particularly on top-tier Google Workspace resellers to SMEs.Funding and financialsIn May 2019, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series C funding round, which it plans to use to further expand its market share in Europe, the Middle East, and African regions, where it currently generates around 30% of total revenue.

Copper

This type of CRM can also be known as Strategic CRM as it allows businesses to collect, organize and share valuable customer data among multiple teams across the company, which enables them to work coherently to increase customer lifetime value and thereby profitability. 
The two main aspects of Collaborative CRM are: 1) Interaction management, and 2) Channel management. The former allows businesses to analyze all customer interactions to proactively identify issues and resolve them efficiently. The latter enables businesses to identify and record the communication preferences of customers. This type of CRM is ideal for a business which has multiple departments and stakeholders, offices/branches in various locations and a heavy focus on customer data being transparent and easily accessible by everyone.

This type of CRM collates, stores and analyzes customer data, which includes basic information, marketing data, sales data and customer service records. Using this information, users can get a better idea of customer demand trends and purchase behaviour. Further, companies can track leads and identify which marketing campaigns generate the highest ROI. Sales data helps users identify which products/services are best sellers, seasonal trends, highest revenue generating sales representatives and most profitable locations. Moreover, service data helps businesses assess three main areas: customer service, customer satisfaction and employee performance. This type of CRM is ideal for companies which have sales processes driven by account management and end-users who value metrics and are encouraged by data transparency.

Certain startups provide industry-specific solutions such as for hair salons and convenience stores

Provides cloud-based platforms and mobile access to CRM systems

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Keap, a CRM, sales and marketing provider to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) is introducing upcoming features and solutions for improved automation and customer services. The first is the Solution Launchpad in Alpha phase testing, designed for sharing Keap features. The second is Keap Pay, a payment solution embedded for streamlining marketing campaign automation, invoices, and automated payments. Keap Pay is set to be launched for US customers in April.
 
</div>

Keap

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