AI-powered customer service startup Thankful announced that it raised $ 12 million in a Series A business financing round led by Alpha Edison. Other commercial investors who participated in the business financing round include Bonfire, Ten-One-Ten, Greycroft, Omega and Miramar.
Over 30 million customer service tickets handled
Since its inception in 2018, the artificial intelligence (AI) startup has seen business growth of 400% year-over-year. This was made possible primarily by its high-end AI technology that can solve vast customer problems through customer service channels such as email, chat, social media, in-app, and SMS.
Today, Thankful claims to be one of the industry leaders in the customer service business, collaborating with leading customer experience brands including Crate & Barrel, FabFitFun, MeUndies, Morphe, and Bombas.
The startup plans to use the newly raised commercial funds to further scale its business and find new ways to improve the customer experience, as well as expand its engineering team and product line. Additionally, Thankful has plans to enter other industries, including finance, insurance, and healthcare.
Thanks to its highly intelligent technology, which understands customer problems and helps solve them, the AI startup has also partnered with some of the best support services in the world, including Zendesk, Kustomer and Gladly.
“Thankful stood out to us because it is the only customer service software that is on the client side, and we know from our experience that it will always be the winning side. What attracted us the most was the traction they achieved in a short time and the vision from turning customer service from a cost center to a revenue driver, “said Robey Miller, partner at Alpha Edison.
Ted Mico, Thankful CEO, said the new funding will help his startup to transform the customer service experience “into an effective sales and marketing channel.”
While some may not consider customer service an essential part of a business, Thankful strongly believes that it should be one of the main drivers of business growth. That is why companies spend millions on marketing to attract customers. However, when your customers face a problem or have questions, the customer service team often fails to provide a helpful solution.
This is exactly what Thankful is trying to change, added Mico. The startup spent more than two years developing its AI customer service software, which Mico refers to as “the application layer at the top of the help desk.” To date, the Thankful platform has handled and learned from more than 30 million customer service tickets.
“Thankful’s level of intelligent commitment to customer service was deeper than anything we’ve seen before, and in service, understanding the customer is critical,” said Jim Andleman, partner at Bonfire Partner.
Thankful charges customers for its services based on the volume of tickets and the products they use. The AI startup also allows customers to test the software before purchasing.
Summary
IA customer service startup Thankful secured $ 12 million in a Series A funding round led by Alpha Edison. Since its founding in 2018, Thankful has seen business growth of 400% year-over-year, driven by its sophisticated AI platform that is capable of solving large volumes of customer problems.
