By Erin Schilling – Technology Reporter/ Atlanta InnoFebruary 10, 2022, 07:22am EST
Voxie Founder Bogdan Constantin is capitalizing on a trend that he thinks could transform the marketing industry — automated texting. Now, his Atlanta-based startup Voxie has $25 million to expand his vision.
Businesses can “chat” with their customers via text messages through Voxie’s platform. The automated messages are two-way conversations, allowing customers to feel like they’re talking with real people. Meanwhile, the business can use technology to answer questions, get customer insights and better promote their products.
Inside the deal: The $25 million raise extends Voxie’s $6.7 million Series A round that closed in January 2021. Both rounds are backed by a team of Atlanta investors. Long-time local entrepreneur and investor Tom Noonan led the most recent round. Circadian Ventures, Engage Ventures, Noro-Moseley Partners, Kyle Porter of Salesloft and David Cummings of Atlanta Ventures also participated.
Why it matters: The funding sets the stage for Voxie to scale its product and expand its customers. Automation makes text promotions and conversations cost and time effective, which is particularly important for businesses hurting from staff shortages or the effects of the pandemic, Constantin said. Voxie builds on Atlanta’s success in the marketing technology sector. Cummings sold marketing automation startup Pardot for $100 million in 2012, and email marketing startup Mailchimp grew to 800 employees before its $12 billion sale to Intuit last fall. Text-message marketing is a growing trend, expected to be worth $12.6 billion in 2025, according to a study by Grand View Research Inc.
About the company: Voxie is in a little over 10,000 locations, Constantin said. The company works with restaurants, e-commerce companies and other retailers to increase their sales. Every company that has piloted Voxie’s platform so far has become a customer, Constantin said. One of Voxie’s most popular new features is “Shift-to-Text,” which allows customers who are on hold to transfer to a text message conversation instead.
What’s next: Voxie plans to triple his employee count, hiring for Voxie’s Atlanta and Boston offices as well as remotely. Voxie has an office in Alpharetta and plans to find a bigger space in the spring. Voxie’s goal is to add more enterprise customers and gear up for a larger funding round.
What they’re saying: “Voxie is already the category leader in the white-hot conversational text market and is poised for explosive growth as businesses increasingly depend upon personalized, automated conversations at scale,” Noonan said.