Swell, the customer engagement platform for local businesses, announced a Series A funding round of $8 million. The round was led by SkyLab Ventures with support from Teamworthy and Swell’s current investors, including Cultivation Capital.
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This funding round comes following Swell’s triple-digit year-over-year growth, and the release of the latest version of their customer engagement platform. “Despite the challenges presented to everyone in 2020, we still managed to quadruple our team, release a new version of our platform, and continue to grow our customer base. It’s clearer than ever that local businesses need tools like Swell to help them adapt to changes and engage with customers and prospects,” says Drew Sparks, CEO and co-founder of Swell. “This round will position us for the next growth stage of Swell by letting us expand our leadership team, enter new verticals, and add some next-level features to the Swell platform.”
Tech veteran Benson Metcalf, who held executive positions at Pluralsight and SaltStack and currently serves as CEO of SkyLab Ventures, will advise Swell and represent SkyLab on the Swell board of directors. “Swell understands that automating customer engagement is the future of business, and they’ve shown leadership in this space even as the world wrestled with a pandemic,” says Metcalf. “Investing in Swell was an easy decision because their platform provides lots of value to local businesses, which are all eager for technology to help them grow. We’re excited to work with the Swell team as they continue their growth trajectory.”
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“The last year really solidifies how much local businesses count on tools like Swell and our growth is proof,” says CRO and co-founder Zeke Kuch. “Even when businesses were cutting costs due to COVID-19, they kept Swell because it helped them adapt. We’re glad we could help so many businesses pivot to a digital approach and empower them to engage with and acquire new customers, even in the face of a rapidly changing world.”
Cultivation Capital, Swell’s largest seed investor, also contributed to Swell’s Series A. “Swell has done a fantastic job since we invested in them a little over a year ago,” says John True, General Partner at Cultivation Capital. “We see more potential growth for them, so we felt it was wise to strengthen our relationship with them.”
The Swell platform makes it easy for local businesses to engage with customers, gather online reviews, and even schedule appointments online. On average, Swell users increase customer reviews over 300% in the first year.
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