IOVOX secured a $10 million Series A equity round and debt financing led by Octopus Ventures, SF Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank. The London-based call analytics startup plans to use the investment to build out a product roadmap and expand throughout the United States.
IOVOX, which boosts clients such as British Telecom, Zoopla, AutoTrader U.K., and Pizza Express, recently setup an office in Mill Valley, California to serve as a U.S. headquarters.
Co-founders Ryan and Belinda Gallagher believe the funding will enable the company to build out its analytics platform with functions that allow marketers to sync, store, organize, and search mobile and desktop call data across all devices.
The company wants to make all calls actionable, regardless of the source of data. It's no longer about just having the ability to prove the return on investment for inbound marketing calls. As Internet-connected devices gain popularity, in the future call analytics technology will need to analyze calls made through devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo.
Irv Shapiro, CEO of DialogTech, believes it's important to know which platforms generate the most calls. DialogTech's AdWords integration allows marketers to optimize search campaigns based on the conversions in near real-time.
Marketers will need the ability to analyze calls from devices like Google Home and Amazon Echo, as well as chatbots from created by developers from Microsoft tools for Web sites or technology from Soundhound for automobiles or kitchen appliances.
BIA/Kelsey estimates that digital and mobile advertising are expected to drive 162 billion calls to businesses by 2019 -- not including connections through the Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The report estimates that mobile calls drive $1 trillion in U.S. consumer spending. While search drives the most calls, other formats continue to emerge and grow.