Olivier Pailhes. Image: Aircall
The $120m funding round led by Goldman Sachs will be used to hire 260 more people and double down on the UK market.
Cloud calling platform Aircall has raised $120m in a funding round that pushes its value above $1bn.
The Paris-based company was founded in 2014 and develops a cloud-based call centre for managing customer support and sales calls.
The Series D round was led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management with participation from Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners, eFounders, Draper Esprit, Adams Street Partners, NextWorld Capital and Gaia.
Aircall creates a central cloud platform for customer and sales phone calls and integrates its software into companies’ other communication and management programmes like Salesforce, HubSpot and Intercom.
According to the French company, it grew its customer numbers more than 65pc over the last year to 8,500 as demand soared during the shift to remote and hybrid working. More than a third of its revenue now comes from the US as it further internationalises.
The new funding will go towards a broad recruitment drive. It has 450 employees and plans to add 260 people by the end of the year. It will be opening new offices in London and Berlin. It has existing offices in New York, Paris, Sydney and Madrid.
It has targeted expansion in the UK market in particular and will be seeking partnerships with major telecommunications companies to get a firmer foothold in the country.
“Since the beginning of Aircall, we’ve helped thousands of companies to enrich their customer experience through voice channels, with more empathy than ever in the past year. We also witnessed an increasing demand for visibility and data about teams and performances,” chief executive Olivier Pailhes said.
“Now that hybrid, on-site or remote teams are likely here to stay, we’ll continue to work to achieve our vision, and empower every professional to have richer conversations.”
Christian Resch, managing director at lead investor Goldman Sachs, said the pandemic has been a “catalyst” for Aircall’s product.
“In a hybrid work environment, users are looking to Aircall to provide an easy-to-use experience that is highly integrated into their workflows, thereby making the most out of every customer interaction,” he said.
