NEW YORK – SundaySky, powering personalized video engagement for leading brands, today announced it has completed its Series D financing round and raised an additional $30 million, bringing total investments in the company to $67 million. New investor Viola Private Equity led the round and was joined by existing investors Carmel Ventures, Globespan Capital Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, Comcast Ventures and others. NTT DOCOMO Ventures – the venture capital arm of NTT DOCOMO, Inc., Japan’s leading mobile operator and a SundaySky customer – also participated as a strategic investor. The funding will scale global growth and support continued product innovation and a rapidly expanding customer base as SundaySky builds upon its position as the pioneer in the personalized video engagement market.
By 2020, SundaySky expects all Fortune 500 business-to-consumer companies will adopt data-driven, personalized video storytelling to engage with and communicate to their customers. SundaySky has seen year-over-year SmartVideo program growth of 130 percent and is on track to reach 1 billion cumulative SmartVideo views by the end of the year, as companies respond to growing consumer demand for relevant and personalized experiences. Enterprises that implement SmartVideo at one stage of the customer lifecycle – such as video billing, acquisition or onboarding – are now adopting it for multiple applications across their businesses for holistic SmartVideo strategies.
The company is expanding its board of directors, adding two members with extensive leadership in building publicly traded technology companies. Following this round, Viola Private Equity General Partner Ayal Shiran will join the company’s board of directors. In addition, Rami Hadar, former president and CEO of Allot Communications Ltd. (NASDAQ, TASE: ALLT), will assume the role of executive chairman.
“As the creator of the personalized video engagement market category, SundaySky has changed how brands interact with consumers, making one-to-one personalized communication possible,” said Ayal Shiran, general partner of Viola Private Equity. “With SundaySky’s proven technology, veteran executive team and impressive blue-chip customer list, the company is positioned to accelerate growth and advance its solution, now more than ever. We believe in SundaySky’s vision of personalized video becoming the primary engagement medium between a brand and an individual, and we look forward to working with the company to realize this future.”
Leading brands in telecommunications, e-commerce, insurance, banking, healthcare and other industries rely on SundaySky’s SmartVideo Platform to create personalized video experiences that change consumer behavior across the customer lifecycle and drive return on investment. SmartVideo programs drive up to 20X incremental revenue growth, 22 percent reduction in customer churn, 20 percent reduction in customer care costs, 19 percent increase in digital adoption and an 18-point increase in Net Promoter Score.
“This funding underscores the maturity of the personalized video engagement category and SundaySky’s leadership in it,” said Shmulik Weller, SundaySky co-founder and CEO. “We’ve seen significant, rapid growth in adoption of SmartVideo as a strategy for leading global brands, and with the investment from Viola Private Equity, we will continue to execute on our mission of offering one-to-one communication through a storytelling medium that is highly targeted, measurable and scalable.”
About SundaySky
SundaySky is transforming the relationship between brand and customer through personalized video. Our platform, built on proprietary SmartVideo technology, combines the power of video with personalized storytelling at scale to foster long-term customer relationships. The SmartVideo Platform lets marketers communicate to an audience of one and easily create, manage and optimize real-time personalized video programs throughout the customer lifecycle. AT&T, Citi, Comcast and other industry-leading brands partner with SundaySky to engage prospective and current customers, resulting in higher revenue, lower costs and deeper loyalty. SundaySky is headquartered in New York City with offices in Tel Aviv and Tokyo. Visit www.sundaysky.com for more information.
About Viola Private Equity
Founded in 2008, Viola Private Equity provides an opportunity for growth stage companies to raise the capital they need to develop and expand. Viola Private Equity focuses on value creation in its portfolio companies and utilizes its strong management team to accelerate the growth of these companies. By providing direct capital investment, combined with strong leadership support, it propels portfolio companies forward, turning recognized companies into global technology leaders. The Viola Private Equity team has vast experience in working with management teams to build organic and non-organic growth plans, scale operations, strengthen management teams and aim to create business partnerships with global leaders. Viola Private Equity is a member of the Viola Group, Israel’s premier technology-focused Private Equity group with over $2.5B under management. For more information visit: www.violape.com
