By around the time Privy closed its recent $2.1 million funding round, the Boston startup had managed to gain thousands of paying customers, with a total of more than 200,000 ecommerce websites using its marketing software.
Ben Jabbawy, Privy's CEO and founder, told BostInno that up until a month ago, the company hadn't been spending any money on marketing. The key to gaining customers, Jabbawy said, was largely through partners that had integrated its software, including Boston's Klaviyo, MailChimp, Shopify and many other services.
"MailChimp has helped us get 50,000 shared clients," Jabbawy said, and a lot of that was the result of building tight integrations that provided fruitful results. The company also made customer support an early focus, which helped build a grassroots following.
Privy's marketing software is focused on helping small businesses convert website visitors into paid customers through targeted email sign-up forms, coupons and follow-up emails. With no technical skills required for setup, Jabbawy said Privy can help small businesses "achieve what ecommerce enterprise marketers are doing with just a few clicks."
"I think people are excited by that vision of the one-stop marketing automation partner for ecommerce."
For the past two years, the company has grown annual revenue 300 percent. Among the company's most prominent customers are The Ellen Shop, Ellen Degeneres' official online store; Paris Hilton's shopping brand; and Japanese retailer Uniqulo. Jabbawy declined to disclose revenue figures or how many of the more than 200,000 sites using Privy are paying customers, but said it's in the "many thousands."
The new financing round, which brings the company's total funding to around $4 million, was led by Cambridge venture capital firm Accomplice. Other investors included Cybereason CMO Mike Volpe and New York-based Kiwi Venture Partners.
Privy plans to use the new money to invest in marketing and customer success efforts and to build out more email automation features.
"I think people are excited by that vision of the one-stop marketing automation partner for ecommerce," Jabbawy said of the new round.
