Atlanta startup SalesLoft raised $100 million, surpassing a $1 billion valuation.
The sales engagement platform, founded in 2011, plans to use the funding to invest in new vertical markets, explore artificial intelligence and machine learning product development and continue its international expansion, according to a Jan. 6 announcement.
New York-based Owl Rock Capital led the round with participation from existing investors Insight Partners, HarbourVest and Emergence. SalesLoft has $245 million in total funding.
“This year has accelerated the need for revenue teams across all industries to transform through a digital selling strategy,” SalesLoft CEO Kyle Porter said in the announcement. “SalesLoft is a crucial technology for sales teams to perform at their highest potential.”
SalesLoft helps its customers, which include tech giants such as Google, Slack and Shopify, find and close sales through a virtual sales engagement system. The company says it has the “only all-in-one platform” for helping businesses gain revenue and has capabilities such as forecasting deals, facilitating phone and text conversations and analyzing data.
Like other companies around the nation, SalesLoft had to adjust to remote work in 2020, laying off about 55 employees in May. But after the initial shock, Porter said in a blog post the company exceeded its growth plans and shortened its sales cycles by 40%.
The company currently has about 500 employees and expects to hire at least 150 more with the new funding, according to a SalesLoft spokesperson. Positions are open around the world, mostly in its Atlanta, London and Guadalajara offices, according to the SalesLoft career page.
SalesLoft’s revenue has grown 403% in three years, according to Deloitte’s North America 2020 Technology Fast 500 Rankings, where it ranked No. 274.
Atlanta Business Chronicle ranked SalesLoft as No. 14 in Atlanta’s fastest-growing private companies in 2020, and the company has gained recognition from various outlets as a top place to work.
With a $1.1 billion valuation, SalesLoft joins the ranks of cybersecurity and privacy startup OneTrust and financial technology startup Greenlight, which both hit the milestone in the last year and a half.
