Conversica

Conversica is a US-based cloud software technology company. Conversica offers a suite of Intelligent Virtual Assistants for business, with a focus on Customer Experience business functions (Marketing, Sales, Customer Success, Account Management and Payments). Powered by Artificial Intelligence, the Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVA) interact with leads and customers in a human-like way, like an entry level employee. The IVA software interacts over multiple channels, including email and SMS text messages, and in multiple languages. Conversica is a pioneer in providing AI-driven lead engagement software for marketing and sales organizations.[3] Conversica is headquartered in Silicon Valley, (Foster City, California).

Conversica
Type of businessPrivate
Type of site
Artificial Intelligence Intelligent Virtual Assistant Enterprise software[1]
Available inMultilingual
FoundedBellingham, Washington, United States (2007)
Headquarters
Foster City, California
,
United States[1]
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Ben Brigham, Senior Vice President
Key peopleJim Kaskade, CEO[2]
ProductsConversica AI Assistants
Employees>250
URLwww.conversica.com
RegistrationRequired
Users>1700 companies
Current statusActive

History

2007: The company was founded by Ben Brigham in Bellingham, Washington as AutoFerret.com. The company initially produced a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) product, targeted at automotive dealerships. This soon expanded to lead generation, and then lead validation and qualification. The AI for which Conversica is known today was born out of a need to follow-up on and filter out low-quality leads, and in time it was clear that this was where the real value of the product lay. The focus of the company shifted toward this automated lead engagement technology.

2010: The Company started commercially selling AVA, the first Automated Virtual Assistant for sales, and the company name is changed to AVA.ai®. Early customers for AVA are automotive dealerships. and subsequent history of the company has been iteration and refinement of the AI-lead interaction. As the company moved away from generating leads themselves, and providing the CRM themselves, it became necessary to integrate with existing CRMs and Marketing Automation platforms, such as DealerSocket, VinSolutions and Salesforce.

2013: Company raises $16m Series A funding,[4] lead by Kennet Partners, names Mark Bradley as CEO of AVA.ai. Headquarters move from Bellingham, Washington to Foster City, California. Other key executives joining the business include David Marod (Automotive Sales) and William Webb-Purkis (Product Management). Expands sales office in Kansas City, Missouri.

2014: Company changes name from AVA.ai to Conversica.[5]

2015: Alex Terry joins Conversica as CEO.[6] Other key executives joining the business include Jason Lund (CFO[7]), Dr. Werner Koepf (SVP Engineering[8]). Business expands to include material number of customers in additional industry verticals, including technology, education, and financial services.

2016: Company raises $34m Series B funding,[9] lead by Providence Strategic Growth. Conversica launches second type of IVA - a Customer Success Assistant to help drive expansion revenue from existing customers.

2017: Conversica expands intelligent automation platform and IVAs to support additional communication channels (e-mail and SMS text messaging) and additional communication languages. Conversica opens new technology center of excellence in Seattle, Washington to expand AI and Machine Learning capabilities.[10] Dr. Sid Reddy joins Conversica as Chief Scientist.[11]

2018: Company raises $31m Series C funding,[12][3][13] lead by Providence Strategic Growth. Conversica acquires Intelligens.ai, providing a regional presence in Latin America with an office in Las Condes, Santiago, Chile.[14] Launches AI-powered Admissions Assistant for Higher Education industry.[15] Rashmi Vittal joins Conversica as CMO.[16]

2019: Conversica was selected by Fast Company magazine as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative AI Companies in the World,[17] and was named Marketo's Technology Partner of the Year,.[18] The company officially expanded into the EMEA region with the opening of a London office.[19] As of August 2019, Conversica has over 50 different integrations with third parties. In October Conversica won three awards at the fourth annual Global Annual Achievement Awards for Artificial Intelligence.[20] Also that month, Alex Terry stepped down from his role as CEO, to be replaced by former Janrain leader Jim Kaskade.[2]

2020: Conversica, Inc. has confirmed it has formalized a reseller deal with Nectia Cloud Solutions, a major Latin American affiliate and Chile's number one Salesforce partner. As part of the alliance, Nectia Cloud Solutions has devoted capital to a brand new company segment, Predict-IA, dedicated to web-based Artificial Intelligence solutions. Predict-IA would provide the opportunities and clients hiring Conversica AI Assistants with product advertising, technical advice and assistance.[21]

Technology
Metro Center, where Conversica's Foster City HQ is located

Conversica's Intelligent Virtual Assistants are AI assistants who communicate with leads, prospects, customers, employees and other persons of interest (Contacts) in a human-like manner, via email and SMS text. The IVAs are built on an Intelligent Automation platform that leverages natural language understanding, natural language processing, natural language generation, deep learning and machine learning. The IVAs interact in a number of languages, including English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. The Assistants are generally deployed alongside sales and marketing, customer success, account management and higher education admissions teams, as part of an augmented workforce.[22] The Intelligent Automation platform integrates with over 50 external systems, including CRM, Marketing Automation, and other systems of record. A partial list of integration partners includes: Salesforce, Marketo, Oracle, HubSpot, DealerSocket, Reynolds & Reynolds, CDK Global, VinSolutions and many more.

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References
  1. "Crunchbase – Conversica". CrunchBase. Retrieved 2019-02-21.
  2. "Conversica Names Jim Kaskade as Chief Executive Officer | MarTech Advisor".
  3. "Conversica, which uses AI to replicate sales agents, raises $31M, now valued around $300M".
  4. "Kennet Partners announces $16 Million investment in AVA.ai and names Mark A. Bradley as CEO". Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  5. "AVA.ai Announces Name Change to Conversica | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  6. "Conversica Names SaaS Industry Veteran Alex Terry as New CEO | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 2015-07-27. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  7. Conversica (2015-08-13). "Conversica Names SaaS Veteran Jason Lund as New CFO". GlobeNewswire News Room. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  8. "Ticketmaster Engineering Executive Joins Conversica to Grow Technology Team and Further Drive Innovation | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 2015-05-11. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  9. "Conversica lands $34 million Series B to build intelligent sales assistants". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  10. "Conversica's new Seattle office cements city's status as AI and machine learning hotbed". GeekWire. 2017-05-16. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  11. "Conversica Appoints Dr. Sid J. Reddy as Chief Scientist to Innovate and Scale Conversational AI Platform as Company Accelerates Growth". www.businesswire.com. August 31, 2017.
  12. "Conversica Raises $31 Million in Series C Funding to Fuel Expansion of Conversational AI for Business". www.bloomberg.com. 2018-10-30. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  13. "Conversica Raises $31 Million in Series C Funding Round". www.martechadvisor.com. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  14. Starr, Rob (February 4, 2018). "Conversica Acquires Intelligens.ai to Give Small Business a Leg Up on AI Conversations".
  15. "Conversica Launches Industry's First AI-Powered Admissions Assistant for Higher Education | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 2018-10-03. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  16. "Rashmi Vittal Joins Conversica as Chief Marketing Officer | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  17. "The World's Most Innovative Companies 2019: Artificial Intelligence Honorees". Fast Company. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  18. "Conversica Named Technology Partner of the Year by Marketo". MarketWatch.
  19. "Conversica Opens Office in London to Expand European Presence | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". Sales AI | Leading AI Assistants for Business | Conversica. April 25, 2019.
  20. "Nominations".
  21. "Customer Support in Latin America by Partnering with Nectia Cloud Solutions". GlobeNewswire. 4 May 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  22. "Sales AI Assistant | Sales AI Assistants | AI Assistants for Business | Conversica". www.conversica.com. 11 August 2019.
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