2008年5月9日金曜日

カスタマーサービスSaaSサイト、Parature社が$16Mの Series B 投資を完了

Parature社はSaaS業界でカスタマーサービス系のHelp DeskシステムをSaaS化したベンダーの一つ。  Accell PartnersやSierra Ventures等、SaaSに投資している大手のVCからの資金を調達している点がポイント。 

Parature Secures $16 Million in Venture Capital

Fastest Growing Customer Service SaaS Company Acquires Series B Financing from Firms with Impressive Track Records of Success in the Information Technology Industry

Vienna, VA - May 7, 2008 - Parature, the global leader in on-demand customer service software, announced today that the company has secured $16 million in Series B venture capital financing. This round was led by, Palo Alto, CA based Accel Partners, with participation from existing investors Menlo Park, CA based Sierra Ventures, Vienna, VA based Valhalla Partners, as well as existing angel investors led by Ching-Ho Fung. Richard Wong, Partner at Accel Partners has been named to Parature's Board of Directors. These three venture capital firms have impressive track records of success in the information technology industry, and specifically with some of the industry's earlier innovators in support technology, such as Scopus, and Remedy. This funding will be used to fuel Parature's aggressive company growth including, expanding sales distribution, increasing marketing efforts, and continuing investment in product innovation and business development activities.

"As the global leader in on-demand customer service software, we are excited to announce this latest round of funding, marking a great milestone for our organization," stated Duke Chung, Parature CEO and President. "Parature serves a vast market and is the fastest growing customer service and support company in North America, with a clear vision for the future of online customer service and support software. Parature is a tremendous success story with over 650 customers, ten million end-users and growing. This relationship with our new and existing partners will enable us to continue setting the standard for support teams worldwide, providing the smartest, most efficient way for organizations to support their customers." Parature's 650+ customers include organizations from a wide set of industry verticals including: Linden Lab, Trulia, Coremetrics, K2 Network, T-Mobile, Office Depot, and many others.

Parature enables any organization to fundamentally change the way they support their customers through its Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery and integrated, intuitive design empowering them to better and more efficiently serve, support, engage with and retain customers in today's Web world. The seamlessly integrated suite of Parature modules allows organizations to effectively manage all of their support needs. This dynamic, on-demand software enables organizations to get up and running quickly, easily and efficiently.

"Parature had the foresight and vision to see the potential of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model from the genesis of the company, and has clearly demonstrated its leadership in the on-demand customer service software market," said Rich Wong, Partner, Accel Partners. "Our due diligence revealed an organization that has an impressive track record, and accelerating momentum in the industry, which drove our interest to invest."

"Accel Partners has an impressive list of successful portfolio companies such as Facebook, Real Networks, Macromedia, Portal Software, UUNet, Veritas, MetroPCS and Riverbed, and has a reputation for making excellent investments, including many of Parature's own customers," added Duke Chung. "We're proud to have attracted another top tier venture capital firm."

About Parature

Parature, the global leader in on-demand customer service software, makes it possible for any business to leverage the Internet to provide outstanding customer service. The company's software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery and integrated, intuitive design enables organizations to better and more efficiently serve, support, engage with and retain customers in today's Web world.  Founded in 2000, Parature received the 2007 Product of the Year Award from Customer Interaction Solutions magazine and has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of Fastest Growing Private Companies in America. For the past three consecutive years Parature has been on the Washington Business Journal's list of Best Places to Work. Headquartered in Vienna, Virginia, Parature is at work in organizations of all types and sizes, and helps support more than 10 million end users worldwide. For more information, visit www.parature.com