A Los Angeles-based startup is opening an office in Atlanta after raising a $50 million Series B round.
Emotive, a conversational text message marketing platform for e-commerce, plans to hire about 20 people in the city and appointed Atlanta software veteran Adam Waid as its chief customer officer, according to a Feb. 24 news release.
The diversity of local talent and Atlanta’s positioning in the e-commerce industry attracted Emotive to the city, said Waid, who will help launch the new office. Emotive’s hiring in Atlanta will focus on sales, customer success and technical support.
“Why wouldn’t Emotive pick Atlanta?” said Waid, who previously worked at marketing technology companies SalesLoft and Pardot, which was acquired by SalesForce. “It’s a hotbed for tech startups and tech companies. It’s becoming a tech mecca.”
Emotive has not yet chosen a location for the office. Its announcement comes after short-term rental giant Airbnb and global tech company Microsoft released plans to open East Coast hubs in Atlanta.
Emotive co-founder and CEO Brian Zatulove said the company plans to triple its team in 2021, going from 90 to about 250 employees and also opening a new office in Boston. Zatulove said the company brought in a diversity and inclusion consultant to help with hiring.
Along with hiring, the new funding will mostly go toward expanding Emotive’s market reach and building out the “best experience for customers,” Zatulove said.
Emotive’s Series B round was led by Silicon Valley-based CRV with participation from Mucker Capital, TenOneTen Ventures, Stripes and Vulcan Capital.
The startup was founded about two years ago and uses a combination of artificial intelligence automation and employee assistance to create and scale personalized marketing text messages. In 2020, its revenue grew 466%, according to the news release.
