(US and Canada) San-Francisco-based 6sense, the leading platform for B2B organizations generating predictable revenue, announced it has closed US$200 million in a Series E funding round. The new funding more than doubles 6sense valuation to US$5.2 billion just ten months after its US$125 million Series D round.
Its latest funding round is co-led by new investors Blue Owl and MSD Partners and includes additional new investors SoftBank Vision Fund 2, B Capital Group, Franklin Templeton, and Harmony Partners. Existing investors Insight Partners, Tiger Global, D1 Capital Partners, and Sapphire Ventures also participated in the round, bringing 6sense’s total funding to US$426 million.
"Ten months ago we ignited the RevTech Revolution with a promise to provide the only AI-driven platform that unifies data, people, and processes to unlock predictable revenue potential. We've delivered on this promise and the market has spoken. Our growth continues to outpace every competitor in our category, and customers consistently rave about the exceptional results they see with 6sense," said Jason Zintak, CEO of 6sense. "This investment adds fuel to our trajectory and gives us the ability to accelerate on our commitments. Our acquisition of Saleswhale is just one example of how we are transforming the way B2B organizations create, manage and convert pipeline to revenue."
Dramatic shifts caused by the continuation of hybrid work in the B2B selling environment - with dispersed buying committees who often are anonymous - have accelerated the demand for a transformation in how sales, marketing, and customer success teams achieve predictable revenue growth. The 6sense platform analyzes data and behaviors to uncover accounts ready to buy and recommends the best action, channel, and messages that are most likely to connect with buyers. Companies using the 6sense platform on average experience 120% improvement in revenue effectiveness.
Investments Add Fuel to Momentum
Part of today's funding will be used to deliver the future of email for B2B marketing and sales teams. 6sense's acquisition of Saleswhale, an AI-driven email marketing platform, extends the native engagement channels available in the 6sense platform and builds on the company's RevTech Revolution promise to put the power of AI, big data, and machine learning behind every member of the revenue team.
Additionally, today's funding will accelerate 6sense go-to-market strategies, such as:
At the time of its Series D round in March 2021, 6sense made a commitment to provide its customers with the unified go-to-market platform for their entire revenue team. Since then, 6sense has released 52 major platform features, made two other acquisitions (Fortella and Slintel), and doubled its customer base and customer adoption. The incredible results customers experience demonstrates that 6sense has executed against its vision. Customers prioritizing accounts identified by 6sense's patented intent-based prediction model achieve, on average, 2X increase in deal size, 10% improvement in opportunity conversion rates, and 25% reduction in deal-to-close time.
"Today's B2B buyer demands a better, more relevant, buying experience. Those companies who provide it will win their business - today and tomorrow," said Ian Howells, Sage VP and Head of Marketing for Sage Intacct. "6sense is our competitive advantage in this area and continues to help us accelerate our growth by pushing the boundaries of innovation and the role of AI in the marketing and sales process."
Massive Tailwinds
This latest round of funding follows a banner year with run rate revenue exceeding US$110 million and a net retention rate over 125%. 6sense has been recognized as a Leader in the Gartner 2022 Magic Quadrant for Account-Based Marketing Platforms Report; named a Leader by G2 across 11 2022 Winter Grid Reports; was named a Best Workplace by Inc. for the third consecutive year; named to the Forbes Cloud 100 list; named the #1 Top Private Cloud-Computing Companies to work for by Battery Ventures; and recognized as a Company for the Happiest Employees, Best Perks and Benefits, Best Culture, Best for Women, and Best for Diversity based on employee feedback at Comparably. 6sense CEO Jason Zintak was recognized as the Best CEO by Glassdoor and Comparably this year.
"Disparate data silos, disconnected engagement channels and lack of cross-functional collaboration are major pain points in driving effective sales and marketing. 6sense's solution acts as the centralized orchestration engine for the entire revenue operation team (marketing, sales, customer support, management) to drive more informed and impactful prospect/customer engagement strategies. We are excited to support 6sense in its continued mission to improve revenue operations," said Andy Lefkarites of Owl Rock (a division of Blue Owl).
"The impressive growth 6sense has achieved is evidence of the tremendous value they deliver to customers and partners, along with the quality of the team behind it all. We're proud to invest in 6sense to catalyze its bold vision for how revenue teams achieve growth," said Victor Hwang of MSD Partners. "We believe 6sense is a pioneer and the clear leader in defining revtech, a new category that bridges B2B marketing to sales and data intelligence, and look forward to supporting Jason and his team in their continued growth."