Mobile software start-up Helpshift raises US$ 2 million from Cisco Investments

Bengaluru: Helpshift Inc., a start-up making customer support software for mobile apps, on Tuesday said it has raised $2 million of funding from Cisco Investments, a unit of networking equipment giant Cisco Systems Inc.

This follows a Series B round that Helpshift raised in June, netting $23 million from Microsoft Ventures, Salesforce Ventures and existing investors Intel Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, True Ventures and Visionnaire Ventures.

Helpshift, which started in 2012 in Pune and is now headquartered in California in the US, had earlier raised $13 million from Intel Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, True Ventures and Visionnaire Ventures.

Typically, users looking for customer support have to e-mail companies or look up FAQ pages on their websites. Helpshift provides the software for in-app support.

With this investment, Cisco will work with Helpshift to integrate its in-app customer support solutions with Cisco’s contact centre solutions.

“We continue to invest in strategic solutions to help propel technology developments that will solve challenges for our customers, partners, and beyond,” said Rob Salvagno, head of Cisco Investments and vice president of Cisco Corporate Development, in a statement. “Through our investment, we look forward to supporting Helpshift to enable companies to provide best in-class mobile customer care through their data-centric messaging platform.”

“Just like customer service moved away from phone (voice) to email in the era of the Web, we are now seeing a transition where customer service is moving inside apps to eliminate all the friction in the process of supporting users. With the additional funding from Cisco Investments, we are looking to help the entire contact center industry transition from being reactive to proactive while driving higher customer satisfaction and lowering cost,” said Abinash Tripathy, chief executive of Helpshift.

The company says its software is currently installed on 1.3 billion devices and works with customers such as VirginMedia, Microsoft, WesternUnion, Flipboard, Shyp, Luxe and WordPress. A large part of its clients list are gaming companies—with thousands of users. They include Supercell, the makers of Clash of Clans, and Zynga.

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