LONDON, October 24, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Investment in a wealth of talent across the UK and Europe, R&D for growth of unique expert
community and funding for the first North American office.
iAdvize, the European leader in conversational marketing,
today announces €32 million euros of
series C funding with participation from Idinvest Partners,
Bpifrance via Large Venture, the fund dedicated to innovating and
hyper-growth companies, and Quadrille Capital.
The new funding will enable the company to:
- Reinforce its European leader status by investing in its teams
based in London, Düsseldorf,
Madrid and Nantes with the number
of staff set to multiply by 4 in the London office by 2020.
- Accelerate product innovation by doubling its R&D workforce
in order to invest heavily in artificial intelligence and continue
to develop ibbü, the community of savvy enthusiasts paid to advise
online visitors.
- Expand its international footprint by opening its first North
American office in Boston USA in
October 2017.
Founded in 2010 by Julien Hervouët, iAdvize is now the European
leader in conversational marketing. iAdvize is used by more than
600 businesses across 60 different countries around the world,
including major brands like Cdiscount, Disney, BMW, Michelin, House
of Fraser, TUI, Interflora, Feelunique and Alfred Dunhill.
The iAdvize Conversational Marketing platform enables businesses
to engage their customers and prospects who need advice and support
and offer them the best response. These responses can be from paid
advocates (members of the ibbü community), chatbots or in-house
customer service agents.
By putting authenticity back at the centre of online commerce,
iAdvize generates a turnover of more than €1billion euros each year
for 600 companies.
"Today, iAdvize is the European leader in
conversational marketing. Our €14 million series B funding has
helped us open our European offices and launch a major new
offering, ibbü, the on-demand pool of experts.
This new funding gives us the means to maintain a strong pace of
growth while reinforcing our presence in Europe and efficiently expanding our activity
in the United-States. Our aim is
to become a global leader in Conversational Marketing,"
said Julien Hervouët, CEO of iAdvize
This follows two previous rounds of funding, including €14
million in 2015, which allowed iAdvize to quickly open several
European offices in London,
Düsseldorf and Madrid. The opening
up of a North American office in Boston in October
2017 will enable the company to export its offering to the
US market, where it is the first marketing technology platform to
offer a full-stack management of customer interactions, from
technology to human resources including ibbü, the unique on-demand
pool of experts for customer support.
The new funding will also enable iAdvize to grow its team to
support its international expansion and develop its unique
technology offerings. The business, which currently employs over
190 people, plans to recruit an additional 250 developers and sales
representatives, half of which will be based in either the
Boston or the European offices,
including London. As part of this
recruitment drive, iAdvize also announces the appointment of
Pierre Soria as Chief Revenue
Officer. He joins the company having spent seven years at Oracle in
senior sales and management roles. Prior to this he was VP France
for Salesforce.com and VP Southern Europe for SuccessFactors.
Alban Wyniecki, Investment Director at Idinvest Partners
added: "The iAdvize team quickly understood the
challenges and potential of international growth in order to
reinforce its European leading position and be among the
international leaders. Moreover, we think there is a real demand in
the US market for a modern conversational marketing software
coupled with a community of advocates which enables brands to
implement a system of on-demand contacts. That's why
we think iAdvize is well positioned on this continent to tackle and
replace historical market players whose solutions are now
aging."
"We've been particularly impressed by
iAdvize's product vision and its capacity to
constantly innovate to differentiate itself from others. Bpifrance
entered into a joint venture with le Fonds Ambition Numérique in
2015 to finance the ibbü launch. Today, we are
renewing our support to help iAdvize with its
business growth and R&D efforts. Now, iAdvize is working on
artificial intelligence by optimising
the targeting of visitors in real-time,
increasing the agents' handling
capacity and turning their customers' chatbot
strategies into a reality."
Jean Bertin, Large Venture
Investment Director at Bpifrance
Expanding the team will drive further technological
developments, as well as grow the ibbü service, a unique on-demand
pool of experts paid to advise customers and prospects online.
Achieving 90% customer satisfaction rate and multiplying conversion
rates by 10, in less than a year, the concept has already convinced
more than 50 businesses in Europe
including large companies such as Sardegna.com, Cdiscount, Point.P,
ManoMano, EDF, Mister Auto,Voyages-sncf.com and IKKS.
About iAdvize
iAdvize (http://www.iadvize.com ) is a conversational marketing
platform that enables businesses to engage their customers and
prospects in real time from one messaging solution (chat, voice,
video), whether they're on a website or on social media. Visitors
can access real-time advice from customer service teams but also
from paid advocates - members of the ibbü community.
Established in 2010 and ranked as a Great Place to Work,
iAdvize has an average annual growth of 100%, employs 190 people
and the platform is used by more than 600 brands across the world.
A cross sector client base from ecommerce, luxury, tourism to
finance includes Cdiscount, Disney, BMW, Michelin, House of Fraser,
TUI, Interflora, Feelunique and Alfred
Dunhill.
About Idinvest
With more than €8 billion under management, Idinvest Partners is
a leading pan-European private equity firm focused on the
mid-market segment. Idinvest Partners has developed several
complementary areas of expertise including: investments in
innovative European start-ups; mid-market direct lending
(unitranche, senior loans and junior financing); primary and
secondary investments in unlisted European companies, and private
equity consulting. Founded under the name AGF Private Equity in
1997, Idinvest Partners was formerly part of Allianz until 2010
when it became an independent firm.
About Bpifrance
Equity investment are operated by Bpifrance Investissement.
Bpifrance, a subsidiary of the French state and the Caisse des
Dépôts and the entrepreneurs' trusted partner, finances businesses
from the seed phase to IPO, through loans, guarantees and equity
investments. Bpifrance also provides operational services and
strong support for innovation, export, and external growth in
partnership with Business France.
With its 48 regional offices, businesses benefit from a
powerful, efficient and close representative, to answer all their
needs in terms of financing, innovation and investment.
More information: http://www.bpifrance.fr Twitter: @bpifrance /
@bpifrancepresse
For more information please contact:
Fran Langham
iAdvize
+44(0)7532-767-187
fran.langham@iadvize.com
Henrietta Dehn
Prosek Partners
+44(0)20-3878-8563
hdehn@prosek.com
Daniel Couzens
OneChocolate PR
+44(0)20-7437-0227
danielc@onechocolatecomms.co.uk