TORONTO – June 28, 2021 – Alida (formerly Vision Critical), creator of the world’s first CXM & Insights Platform has secured a US$10 million debt facility from Comerica Bank (NYSE: CMA).
The financing was provided by Comerica Bank’s Technology and Life Sciences Division. The funds provide Alida with access to additional working capital and will also contribute to Alida’s aggressive growth strategy and ambitious roadmap centered around delivering market-leading solutions in the Customer Experience Management (CXM) space.
“Comerica is excited to partner with Alida, its management team and investors,” said Dave Samra, Senior Vice President, Comerica Bank Technology & Life Sciences. “The company is well-positioned in the CXM space and we look forward to helping Alida with its growth needs.”
Leading industry analyst firms have recognized Alida as a key player in the future of the CXM and Voice of Customer (VoC) markets. By uniquely combining deep insights with broad feedback all in a unified platform, Alida’s customer roster of top global brands, including Twitter, VMware and Toyota, are empowered to make better business decisions and drive world-class customer experiences.
“At Alida, we have made huge strides in our innovation agenda and our vision over the last year. I am confident that with our track record of delivering deep customer insights, combined with our new product roadmap, there is an exciting future ahead as we continue to drive CXM innovation for our current and future customers,” said Ross Wainwright, CEO of Alida. “Comerica Bank’s debt facility will further strengthen Alida’s working capital position and provide the company with access to additional funds to contribute to investments being made into a number of key growth areas for the business, while preserving and ultimately enhancing the value for our current stakeholders.”
Since the start of 2020, with a seasoned leadership team at the helm, Alida has released a number of new customer-led products and enhancements that advance the company towards becoming a global leader in the CXM market. The Alida product portfolio innovates through one seamless customer experience platform that supports various levels of engagement through the customer journey, helping Alida clients create meaningful relationships and experiences for their customers.
“We are proud to work with Comerica as they have a strong long-standing reputation of supporting technology companies through all phases of their growth cycles,” said Wainwright.
Comerica’s technology division serves companies in all stages, from early-stage cash burning to late-stage post-IPO, in many verticals such as SaaS, hardware, security, big data, infrastructure, e-commerce, cloud, mobile, fintech, IIOT, digital media, education, gaming, and ag-tech. Comerica’s team in Canada has over 30 years of experience in technology banking, with product offerings that include Growth Capital Term Loans, MRR/ARR lines of credit, Acquisition/Buyout Financing, and Cap Call lines for Venture Capital Funds.
About Comerica Bank Technology and Life Sciences Division
Comerica Bank’s Technology and Life Sciences Division (TLS) remains one of the nation’s leading technology banking practices, specializing in providing comprehensive banking solutions to support technology and bioscience companies at any stage of their life cycle. Veteran bankers provide credit and financial services and products to young, growing, venture-backed technology and life science companies, as well as their mature counterparts. The TLS Division serves all major U.S. and Canadian technology centers from coast-to-coast. Comerica Bank is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA), a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica reported total assets of $86.3 billion at March 31, 2021.
About Alida
Alida believes in a world where customers are the ultimate source of truth. A world where the best business decisions are those made with customers, not for them. That’s why Alida created the world’s first CXM & Insights Platform to turn customer truth into action. For over 20 years, iconic brands like BuzzFeed, LinkedIn, and Red Bull have chosen Alida, formerly Vision Critical, as their secret weapon. Alida’s unique approach of coupling broad feedback with deep insights creates meaningful and lasting customer relationships and builds brands that stand the test of time.
Author Information
As a detail-oriented researcher, Sherril is expert at discovering, gathering and compiling industry and market data to create clear, actionable market and competitive intelligence. With deep experience in market analysis and segmentation she is a consummate collaborator with strong communication skills adept at supporting and forming relationships with cross-functional teams in all levels of organizations.
She brings more than 20 years of experience in technology research and marketing; prior to her current role, she was a Research Analyst at Omdia, authoring market and ecosystem reports on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and User Interface technologies. Sherril was previously Manager of Market Research at Intrado Life and Safety, providing competitive analysis and intelligence, business development support, and analyst relations.
Sherril holds a Master of Business Administration in Marketing from University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University.
