Pegasystems, a publicly traded software company based in Cambridge, is launching a new venture arm to invest in startups.
The provider of customer relationship management software announced on Wednesday that its new venture arm, Pega Service Ventures, will fund and assist startups that work in the realms of "digital transformation, customer engagement, and operations." Funded companies will become part of Pegasystems' partner ecosystem to help clients improve customer engagement.
In other words, Pegasystems appears to be on the lookout for younger companies that can help improve and augment Pegasystems' software ecosystem. The company said its clients are looking for domain experts in artificial intelligence, robotics and unified CRM services — the former two areas of which have become a new focus for Pegasystems.
Pegasystems recently added new A.I. and robotic automation capabilities to its CRM software, with the goal of helping clients optimize sales and customer service effectiveness," according to CMSWire.
The company's clients include Sprint, Cisco, Coca-Cola and other large companies.
"We're currently experiencing an unprecedented time of technological innovation. As a result, there is tremendous untapped potential to help organizations transform customer engagement and achieve operational excellence," Max Mayer, senior vice president of corporate development at Pegasystems, said in a statement. "Pega is looking forward to working with new partners to empower clients on their journeys toward achieving unprecedented business outcomes."
In addition to providing capital, Pegasystems will offer coaching and enablement services.
Pega Service Ventures will begin accepting applications for the spring 2017 funding cycle on April 25. Applications for a second cycle of funding will open up sometime this fall. More information can be found online here.
