Drips Holdings LLC in Akron, Ohio, has received an undisclosed amount of growth financing to bolster its product-development efforts and expand into more U.S. industries.
The funding from Canada's CIBC Innovation Banking is best described as "debt growth capital," said Beth McKay, a senior consultant for Toronto, Canada-based commercial bank CIBC, in an email.
Drips, which calls itself a "conversational outreach company," last received venture equity funding in October 2021 from Blue Venture Fund, a collaboration among Blue Cross Blue Shield companies, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Chicago-based Sandbox Industries, to help the company expand into the health-care industry.
Prior to that, Drips received a "significant" but undisclosed investment from Accel-KKR in May 2021.
While traditional outreach methods such as cold calls and emails may not reach consumers, Drips seeks to engage customers by starting conversations using human-like, artificial-intelligence-powered dialogue via SMS or phone calls.
Founded in 2016, Drips' compliance-focused managed technology has been used by organizations in highly regulated industries, such as insurance, which require the delivery of sensitive data.
Now, Drips wants to move into other industries that may be grappling with how to use AI-powered messages to engage customers, said Aaron Christopher "A.C." Evans, Drips' CEO and co-founder, in a statement.
"This is precisely where Drips steps in, offering our expertise to guide enterprises in embracing an authentic, compliant and proactive approach," Evans said. "We chose CIBC Innovation Banking to come alongside us in our journey and fuel our growth."
In 2018, CIBC acquired Toronto, Canada-based Wellington Financial and launched CIBC Innovation Banking with a vision to be the leading bank lender to entrepreneurs and investors in the innovation economy.
"It was clear from our early conversations that the Drips team has a unique ambition and skill set to drive enhanced customer communication at scale," said John Flemming, managing director of CIBC Innovation Banking, in a statement.
