BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Drift, the world’s first and only conversation-driven marketing and sales platform, today announced a $32M Series B round of financing. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from CRV and HubSpot -- all existing investors -- and Sequoia Capital, the latest investor in Drift.
Unlike traditional marketing and sales software that relies on forms and follow-ups, Drift connects businesses with the best website visitors in real-time using bots and artificial intelligence. Since going to market in April 2016, over 50,000 businesses have used Drift to generate more qualified leads, dramatically accelerate the sales cycle, and provide a modern buying experience for potential customers.
“The marketing and sales tools that most businesses rely on today were built for a world that no longer exists,” said David Cancel, Drift founder and CEO. “We live in an on-demand world with infinite choice, and yet we force potential customers to fill out forms and jump through hoops in order to talk to us. Buyers have all of the power today and place a premium on convenience and customer experience. Businesses need to adapt to this shift in order to thrive, and that’s what we’re focused on at Drift.”
“The Drift team is rewriting the playbook for modern sales and marketing,” said Larry Bohn, Managing Director at General Catalyst. “The speed with which they’ve been able to do it and establish a leadership position in the market has blown us away. We are proud supporters of Drift and the conversation-driven revolution they are igniting.”
“We have so much conviction in David and Elias as entrepreneurs that we invested in them multiple times,” said Izhar Armony, General Partner at CRV. “I have seen their ability to lead and motivate teams, seek product/market fit, and build world-class marketing and sales products. When they approached us about their newest venture, Drift, we didn’t hesitate in supporting this vision. David, Elias, and the team are building one of the fastest-growing SaaS companies I've seen at this stage, and the brand and movement they are creating is incredible."
In addition to support from existing investors, Sequoia Capital -- an early investor in hypergrowth companies like Airbnb, Dropbox, Stripe, and Google -- joins Drift as an investor in this round.
"Drift is the single best way to turn your website visitors into customers," said Pat Grady, partner at Sequoia. "David and Elias have built multiple products that have transformed how businesses market and sell. We're thrilled to partner with them on what is already their most promising company yet."
This Series B investment will support Drift’s expansion into marketing automation and sales acceleration, a new office in San Francisco, and plans to add over 100 new employees in the next 12 months.
To date, Drift has raised $47M in total financing.
To learn more about Drift and the conversation-driven marketing and sales revolution, visit drift.com/case-studies.
About Drift
Drift
is the world’s first and only conversation-driven marketing and sales
platform. With its quickly evolving set of tools and playbooks, Drift
unlocks the insights buried in conversations to accelerate business
success. Customers use Drift to provide a modern buying experience for
potential customers, generate more qualified leads, and dramatically
accelerate the sales cycle. Based in Boston, Massachusetts, Drift is a
venture-backed company founded by serial marketing technology
entrepreneurs David Cancel and Elias Torres. Learn more at drift.com.
