In what is being called the largest-ever single funding round for a customer data platform (CDP), California-based Treasure Data has secured $234 million in an investment drive led by SoftBank Group Corp., the giant Japanese multinational conglomerate.
The announcement about the funding round was made in a press release issued by Treasure Data, based in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View, which said the fresh infusion of capital will facilitate CDP innovation and accelerate global growth for the firm. Participating in the investment round is Carbide Ventures, the investment fund established by Treasure Data founders and the organization’s long-time executives.
The strong interest generated by the new investment underscores the growing significance being bestowed by enterprise units on CDPs, a software solution that is widely recognized as the next step in marketing technology and the answer to resolving the problem of disconnected customer data systems. CDPs aggregate, classify, and structure real-time customer data across a variety of customer touchpoints, extending from marketing to sales to service, resulting in individual, centralized customer profiles. The data can then be used by other software, systems, and organizations in their marketing efforts.
The need to make sense of increasingly massive amounts of data is borne out by a recent survey from global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which found that the percentage of digital customer interactions has tripled in the last two years, fueled largely by the COVID-19 pandemic. Treasure Data executives say the newly secured investment will help the company execute on its vision of enabling other firms to implement a customer data foundation that would allow marketing, sales, and service organizations to work together to drive a secure and seamless experience for their own customers across physical and digital channels.
“We are in the age of the digital customer and now more than ever, it is critical for businesses to leverage the power of data to drive exceptional experiences,” said Kazuki Ohta, co-founder and CEO of Treasure Data. “This investment by SoftBank Corp. will help us execute on our vision of bringing the CDP enterprise-wide, whether it is in marketing, service, sales or beyond. By enhancing our ability to unlock customer-centricity for brands around the world, we continue our long-standing commitment to enable success for Treasure Data’s clients.”
An enterprise CDP provider founded in 2011, Treasure Data is known for offering end-to-end, fully managed cloud services for Big Data. The company’s corporate customers include Subaru, Warner Bros., Pioneer, and several global Fortune 500 firms. Among its competitors are Tealium, Leadspace, mParticle, and Segment.
The lead investment firm in this round, SoftBank Group Corp., operates as a holding company that engages in the management of its companies. The Group invests primarily in companies operating in the technology, energy, and financial sectors. It also runs the Vision Fund, the world’s largest technology-focused venture capital fund, with more than $100 billion in capital. Eric Gan, SoftBank executive vice president, said CDPs are a critical tool for businesses that wish to stay ahead. “SoftBank Corp. and Treasure Data are engaged in collaborations around the world, and we are excited to lead this investment to further drive synergies across our group companies in the digital marketing sphere,” he added.
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Alex is responsible for writing about trends and changes that are impacting the customer experience market. He had served as Principal Editor at Village Intelligence, a Los Angeles-based consultancy on technology impacting healthcare and healthcare-related industries. Alex was also Associate Director for Content Management at Omdia and Informa Tech, where he produced white papers, executive summaries, market insights, blogs, and other key content assets. His areas of coverage spanned the sectors grouped under the technology vertical, including semiconductors, smart technologies, enterprise & IT, media, displays, mobile, power, healthcare, China research, industrial and IoT, automotive, and transformative technologies.
At IHS Markit, he was Managing Editor of the company’s flagship IHS Quarterly, covering aerospace & defense, economics & country risk, chemicals, oil & gas, and other IHS verticals. He was Principal Editor of analyst output at iSuppli Corp. and Managing Editor of Market Watch, a fortnightly newsletter highlighting significant analyst report findings for pitching to the media. He started his career in writing as an Editor-Reporter for The Associated Press.
