Clickatell secures $91M in oversubscribed Series C funding round

Chat commerce company Clickatell has secured $91 million in a Series C funding round led by Arrowroot Capital, with participation from Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, Endeavor Global and Harvest. The new capital will also allow the company to significantly grow its engineering skills. It has already earmarked over 200 positions with a strong focus on boosting its African skills complement in the coming months.

Clickatell processed more than 30 billion interactions and 2 billion commerce transactions during the pandemic

Clickatell’s platform has been recognised as a global leader in powering mobile messaging/CPaaS (Communications Platform as a Service) and payments within chat and has enabled customer-centric brands to connect, interact and transact with their customers wherever they were sheltering in place during the pandemic.

“In 2019, Clickatell was the first to launch chat banking, bringing banking services functionality to chat channels. Our successes would not be possible without the trust and collaboration of our customers, some of Africa’s largest and most successful companies in the world,” said Pieter de Villiers, Co-Founder and CEO at Clickatell.

“We look forward to working with businesses and financial institutions across the continent to enable Chat Commerce, the future of digital commerce and engagement. Soon, every consumer in Africa will engage family and friends via chat plus connect, interact and transact with the brands they love through their favourite chat platform.”

The company has delivered double-digit profitable growth for several years, will use the Series C capital to scale and expand three key areas:

1. Accelerated development and innovation of its Chat Commerce offering,
2. Expansion of its footprint in the U.S., and
3. Scaling of sales and marketing efforts on the back of growing demand from leading brands.

“We have a shared vision with Clickatell that brands will need to invest in Chat Commerce to transform their customer experience,” said Matt J. Safaii, Founder and Managing Partner at Arrowroot Capital.

“With 93 percent of conversations that transpire on its Chat Commerce Platform ending in a transaction, Clickatell is sure to continue to make waves in this growing sector. We’re delighted to support them on their way to becoming the category-defining, global leader in Chat Commerce.”

De Villiers says the company will not only be looking to grow its already substantial market influence but will continue to invest in addressing the widening gap between the demand and supply of digital skills on the continent as well as encouraging entrepreneurship and start-up innovation.

“While expansion in the US is a high priority in this capital raise, Africa will remain a core market for us and one where our purpose of creating a better world for all through technology really shines through,” he says. “We are proud of the work we do with SiMODiSA on supporting entrepreneurship on the continent through the Startup Act, as well as furthering the creation of future proof jobs via the TechXit digital skills initiative.

“Africa has a wealth of talent and Clickatell will continue to work with both the public and private sectors to ensure that the potential, both of individuals and companies, can be realised.”

Read more: Endeavor welcomes Clickatell’s Pieter de Villiers, FlexClub’s Tinashe Ruzane into fold