As companies rode out the COVID-19 pandemic, funding activity continued in the CX space. The rapid shifts that companies had to make during this time have only proven how important CX technologies will be to businesses as they aim to provide personalized, frictionless, and omnichannel experiences.
Dash Research recently profiled 150 representative companies in the CX space, focusing on customer data & analytics, personalization & optimization, customer feedback, customer relationship management, contact center, and employee experience. From 2019 through 2021, 33% of the 150 companies received a funding round. In 2020 and 2021, many contact center companies garnered funding, likely spurred by this sector rising to the occasion to serve customers who could no longer address concerns in person. Often using multiple channels for customer contact, or turning toward self-service, customers drove a lot of change in this segment. Funding allocated to contact centers was no doubt leveraged as these companies made a rapid shift to moving technology to the cloud, as well as using artificial intelligence (AI) and conversational technologies.
Selected M&A Funding in the CX Market
Data & analytics, as well as personalization & optimization were other hot funding areas. The increased move to digital brought increased data loads, which companies often struggled to house, combine, analyze, and provide insights on. This made technologies in this sector appealing to fund. Likewise, as brands were unable to be high touch during the pandemic, they ramped up usage of hyper-personalization technologies to stand out, keep customers engaged, and create experiences that helped customers feel that the brand was easy to interact with and knew them. Dash Research will continue following funding activity in the CX market, expanding the view past the Dash Research 150, as 2021 is expected to remain a strong year. The third quarter of 2021 is already starting off with funding rounds for Amperity (customer data & analytics), CRMNEXT (customer relationship management), and Thrive Global (employee experience).
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.
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