It’s Official: $7 Million in Series A Funding Secured
I have some exciting news I’m very honored to share – Retention Science has just secured $7 million in Series A financing, bringing our total funding to $9 million to date. Upfront Ventures led the round, with participation from existing investors Baroda Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and Mohr Davidow Ventures. Four strategic angel investors – Brian Lee (co-founder of Honest Company and ShoeDazzle), Michael Dubin (founder of Dollar Shave Club), Tamim Mourad (founder of PriceGrabber.com and eSalon.com) and Andy Dunn (founder of Bonobos) – also contributed to the round. Read more on how I went about raising the capital.
Additionally, we are adding eCommerce veteran and Upfront Ventures partner Greg Bettinelli and Forerunner Ventures founder Kirsten Green to our board of directors.
The new funds will be used to accelerate hiring, with the intention of doubling our employee base by the end of the year. We will also strengthen our sales and marketing team, a process that began with the hiring of Scott Schnaars, former general manager at Badgeville, as our new head of global sales and marketing.
“I have witnessed firsthand the opportunity for even the world’s largest brands to better nurture their customer relationships and drive more and incremental business,” said Greg Bettinelli, partner at Upfront Ventures and previously the CMO of HauteLook, a leading e-commerce business acquired by Nordstrom. “Retention Science provides powerful retention marketing solutions that deliver meaningful results, and I look forward to partnering with Jerry and his team to expand upon their strong market position.”
Customer retention often takes a backseat to acquisition, despite the fact that it costs more to attract new customers and keep them. Knowing this, we have created a solution that keeps existing customers engaged and delivers tangible ROI through repeat sales, increased order value and stronger brand loyalty. Our success is validated by the fact that several of our clients asked to invest in Retention Science – they’ve seen the results and want to play a role in our future growth.
The Series A financing builds upon a remarkable year of growth for us: we have expanded our client base six-fold, added several marquee retail clients, and have made significant product enhancements. With a team that’s 70 percent comprised of world-class engineers and data scientists, we are able to stay on the forefront of predictive technology and consistently deliver innovations that empower our clients.
Using big data analytics and predictive algorithms, our retention marketing platform helps online retailers re-engage customers by profiling their behavior and creating timely and relevant retention campaigns for each individual, resulting in increased loyalty and customer lifetime value. While working with The Honest Company, we managed to deliver a 170 percent conversion lift over a control group receiving the company’s generic email marketing campaigns, as well as an 80 percent lift in average order value. Some of our other customers include Target, CafePress, Vitamin Shoppe, and Neiman Marcus.
