Dialpad Raises $100M at $1.2B Valuation, Goes All-in on AI-Powered Communications
High-Growth Startup Accelerates Cloud-Based Collaboration and Contact Center Capabilities with Series E Funding Round Led By OMERS Growth Equity
SAN FRANCISCO — OCT. 6, 2020 — Dialpad, Inc., the AI-powered cloud business phone and contact center provider for modern businesses, today announced $100 million in Series E funding. The round reflects the strength of both Dialpad’s business and the strategic role that best-in-class work from anywhere communications tools are playing for businesses worldwide. OMERS Growth Equity led the round, with participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, GV, ICONIQ Capital, Felicis Ventures, Section 32 and Work-Bench. In total, Dialpad has raised $220 million, and the valuation over $1.2B demonstrates its leadership position in the Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) marketplace and solidifies the role of, and need for, AI-powered insights on all calls as a strategic differentiator for businesses of all sizes.
Dialpad was the first business communications and contact center provider to bring native, real-time transcription, automated note-taking, live sentiment and voice analytics to market, and with the rising demand for remote collaboration, the company has grown as a leader in the space. The additional capital will be used to continue to accelerate Dialpad’s innovation and lead in building the next generation cloud phone system and contact center while expanding go-to-market activities domestically and internationally. The raise comes after significant growth, with COVID effects accelerating migration to the cloud for telephony and contact center solutions.
“We have seen a huge increase in demand for cloud communications tools, and we are raising additional capital to meet this demand,” said Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad. “Users want a single platform to handle voice, video and messaging. They also want that platform to be smart; to do things like automate note-taking and provide real-time insights and answers in response to what’s happening on a call or meeting. We have invested in real-time speech recognition, natural language processing and voice analytics on a system that works anywhere, on any device. Our goal has always been to empower the future of work, and we are thrilled to join the OMERS Growth Equity portfolio and to continue to innovate.”
The funding follows Dialpad’s long track record of continued innovative product development and growth, including the recent acquisition of Highfive, which expands Dialpad's video offerings on mobile devices and introduces meeting room hardware to enable seamless conferencing experiences for remote and hybrid-remote workforces. According to a recent worldwide report by Gartner, a 46.7% increase in cloud-based conferencing investment is expected this year by CIOs.
Over the past 12 months, Dialpad has exceeded $100M in committed ARR and has seen its cloud contact center business grow faster than any other product. Additionally, Dialpad has expanded globally with the opening of offices in Europe and Asia and plans to further extend its global footprint with additional investments internationally. This follows the global requirement to support remote and hybrid workforces as the COVID-19 crisis is emphasizing the need to productively manage and support such workers.
“We are excited to become an investor in Dialpad. Craig and his team have built an impressive company, offering a leading product in a market with a long growth runway. We believe cloud-based software and artificial intelligence are in the early stages of widespread adoption, and Dialpad is playing a leading role in this change,” said Mark Shulgan, Managing Director and Head of OMERS Growth Equity. “We are proud to join Dialpad’s impressive roster of existing investors, and look forward to taking this journey with the company.” Mr. Shulgan will join Dialpad’s Board of Directors.
Founded by veterans in the cloud communications space and backed by some of Silicon Valley’s most influential investors, Dialpad is a business communications platform that combines best-in-class telephony with HD audio and video, leveraging native AI for real-time call coaching and voice analytics. With more than 500 employees, and a plan to grow headcount dramatically over the next year, Dialpad serves more than 7,000 customers from large enterprises to small and mid-size companies.
BofA Securities acted as sole placement agent on this transaction.
Investor Quotes
"We are living through the most dramatic transformation in how work happens in our lifetime. Dialpad is powering the shift to work-from-anywhere for many thousands of businesses. We are excited to continue our involvement with Dialpad." - Marc Andreessen, Cofounder and General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
"Our thesis when we partnered with Dialpad centered around enabling a world-class team, building a world-class product, attacking a world-class opportunity. All of those elements have played out as Craig and team continue to execute incredibly well on strong tailwinds in the industry. We're extremely excited to join forces with Mark Shulgan and OMERS to take advantage of the accelerating opportunity ahead." - John Kim, Managing Partner at Amasia
"Dialpad's best-in-class cloud solutions are powering the rapid transformation of business communications. With demand for remote collaboration accelerating, we are thrilled to continue backing Dialpad to bring smarter, more adaptable tools to the modern workforce." - Wesley Chan, Managing Director at Felicis Ventures.
"Dialpad’s Series E couldn't have come at a more opportune time. We've been tracking the transformation of core IT systems like telephony for years and have steadily seen the shift to 'work from anywhere' and its ability to supercharge productivity. There's still an incredible need in the enterprise for better cloud communication tools and Dialpad's newest additions to its platform to better enable contact centers will solve a major pain point for enterprises who have been underwater in the midst of COVID-19." - Jonathan Lehr, Co-Founder & General Partner of Work-Bench.
About Dialpad
Dialpad is one of the fastest-growing private companies in the “work from anywhere” era. A flexible, mobile business communications platform, Dialpad covers your phone system, conferencing and call center needs. Built on the Google Cloud Platform for unmatched security and reliability, Dialpad is easy to deploy, integrate and scale and is powered by Voice Intelligence (ViTM) to make every call a smarter call. Today, more than 7,000 of the world’s most innovative businesses use Dialpad and its seamless integrations with Google G Suite and Microsoft Office 365 to be more productive. Customers include WeWork, Uber, Motorola Solutions, Domo and Xero. In addition to OMERS, investors include Amasia, Andreessen Horowitz, Felicis Ventures, GV, ICONIQ Capital, Salesforce Ventures, Scale Ventures, Section 32, Softbank and Work-Bench. Visit dialpad.com for more.
About OMERS Growth Equity
OMERS Growth Equity invests in high-growth companies backed by exceptional teams. OMERS Growth Equity is a long-term investor, focused on supporting companies to pursue all types of growth opportunities. These growth opportunities could include scaling operations, making acquisitions, expanding product lines, or entering new markets. To learn more, visit https://www.omersprivateequity.com/GrowthEquity.
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