Finovate Blog

With a three-year growth rate of nearly 94x and revenues of more than $17 million in 2015, Persado came in at #16 on Inc.com’s roster of the fastest growing private companies in America. “The Inc. 500 list stands out where it really counts,” said Eric Schurenberg, Inc. president and editor-in-chief. “No one makes the Inc. 500 without building something great, usually from scratch.”

Alex Vratskides, Persado CEO and cofounder, called the recognition a “tremendous achievement” for his company. “It validates not only our dramatic growth, but also honors the transformative power of cognitive content technology, our pioneering customers, and our brilliant global team,” he said.

Persado Chief Revenue Officer Lawrence Whittle demonstrated Persado Go at FinovateEurope 2016 in London.

Persado demonstrated its messaging solution, Persado Go, at FinovateEurope 2016 in London this February. The company’s technology “replaces the guesswork of copywriting” by using algorithms to generate language for marketing emails, landing pages, push notifications, social media and other communications. Discussing the technology at FinovateEurope 2016 earlier this year, company CRO Lawrence Whittle said, “In simple terms, we generate the most persuasive message every time with every digital touchpoint with your customers.” And using the example of trying to drive up business among dormant credit-card customers, Whittle showed how Persado was able to quickly build multiple variations of an email message as part of a marketing campaign far faster than a team of copywriters. Whittle pointed out the advantages of machine learning in this context, saying that “these messages are not in any way a judgment around creativity, [but] about what might work in terms of motivating someone to take an action. We are literally analyzing billions of transactions to generate these sixteen messages.”

Persado has raised $66 million in total funding, including a $30 million Series C in April. The company includes Goldman Sachs, StarVest Partners, Bain Capital Ventures, Citi Ventures, and American Express Ventures among its investors. More than 80 global brands use Persado’s technology to enhance their marketing initiatives, earning an average conversion lift of more than 49% and an improvement of more than 68% in click-through rates. Founded in 2012 and originally from the U.K., Persado is headquartered in New York City.

Other Finovate and FinDEVr alums appearing on Inc.’s list include Kabbage (#183; 3-year growth of more than 20x; 2015 revenues of $97.4 million); Lighter Capital (#335; 3 -year growth of more than 11x; 2015 revenues of $4.3 million); and Tango Card (#402; 3-year growth of more than 9x; 2015 revenues of $6.2 million). Finishing just beyond the 500 mark was edo Interactive (#569; 3-year growth of more than 6x; 2015 revenues of $18.1 million).