INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sharpen Technologies, developers of the agent-first omnichannel cloud contact center platform, secured $12 million in capital growth funding, it was announced today by CEO Bill Gildea. The financing brings the total amount raised by Sharpen to over $40 million, and comes following a strong 1H 2020, with a 236% increase in new bookings compared to 1H 2019. At the same time, Sharpen was named to the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America, due to its growth rate of 137% over the last three years.
This is the second round of funding for Allos Ventures LLC, Cultivation Capital, and Lightchain LLC, the family office of Rodger Riney, founder and former CEO of Scottrade. All three investors also have representation on the Sharpen board.
“Since we first invested, we’ve seen Sharpen grow into a best-in-class cloud contact center platform that allows agents to work-from-anywhere in the world,” stated David Kerr, Managing Director, Allos Ventures. “We are thrilled to participate in this new round that will allow the company to build on its rapid growth while continuing to innovate on its agent-first platform and provide its high-touch, hands-on approach to service that distinguishes it in the marketplace.”
According to Gartner, prior to the pandemic, only 15% of the estimated $24 billion contact center market had transitioned to the cloud. And new industry data from the research firm finds that 35% of the customer experience (CX) workforce will work-from-home by 2023, up from 5% in 2017. “Our cloud-based platform is in the nexus of these two business opportunities,” Gildea noted. “We are uniquely positioned to succeed in this rapidly growing marketplace predicted to explode in value over the next five years.”
About Sharpen Technologies
Sharpen Technologies is the world’s first, truly agent-focused contact center platform built in the cloud for the cloud. The omnichannel platform lets users work-from-anywhere, seamlessly moving between calls, texts, webchats, emails, social media, video, etc. all in real-time and in a single interaction. Sharpen was recognized by Frost & Sullivan’s Contact Center Buyers Guide, North America (2019) for its “dramatic ROI,” “out-of-the-box integrations,” and “powerful reporting and analytics tools,” while Nemertes Research called Sharpen a “Top-Rated Contact Center Solutions Provider” (2018). In 2020, it made the Inc. 5000, the magazine’s annual list of America’s fastest-growing private companies, and has been named one of the “Best Places to Work” by both Inc. (2019) and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce (2017, 2018). Visit Sharpen on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and the Sharpen blog.
