Dive Brief:
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Attentive, the mobile messaging platform for companies, announced that it raised $70 million in Series C investment, bringing the total funding to $124 million. Sequoia and IVP led the funding round, and existing investors Eniac Ventures and NextView Ventures also participated, according to a company press release.
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The funding will allow Attentive to expand and add more features to its platform, the company said. After its Series B funding round in August 2019, the company built teams in Los Angeles, Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Detroit and Indianapolis, and grew its headquarters in New York City.
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Attentive currently works with more than 750 companies, including Coach, Urban Outfitters, CB2, PacSun, Lulus and Party City, per the press release.
Dive Insight:
Without listing specific figures, Attentive stated in its funding announcement that its services have driven "billions of dollars in transactions" to clients. The company predicts that as consumers change the way they directly interact with brands, businesses will need to be prepared to keep up with a shift in communication, according to an Attentive blog post.
"In a few years, brands will be expected to engage in real-time, two-way conversations with their customers via mobile messaging," Attentive co-founder and CEO Brian Long said in a statement. "You will see every business using personalized messages to communicate everything from marketing, transactions, and customer service —across the entire lifecycle."
The 2019 holiday season may prove Attentive's bet on mobile services to be correct. A report by Bloomreach showed that mobile traffic jumped by 65% compared to desktop traffic on Black Friday. Adobe's 2019 Holiday Recap report found that holiday shoppers spent over $50 billion via smartphones during the holiday season. Additionally, mobile accounted for 67% of traffic to fashion sites during the holiday season.
Though mobile apps bring both positives and negatives to retailers, Attentive's latest funding proves some investors are looking to support the power direct mobile communication brings.