Goldman Sachs doubles down on MoEngage in new round to fuel global expansion

MoEngageA customer engagement platform that works with consumer brands in 75 countries, says it has raised new funding, led by its existing investor Goldman Sachs Alternatives, to boost global growth and inject more AI into its platform.

All told, $100 million in shares traded as part of MoEngage’s Series F round, roughly 60% primary and 40% secondary. The round marks the entry of Indian venture firm A91 Partners as a new investor According to MoEngage, it has now raised $250 million in funding.

As consumer brands increasingly rely on digital channels to reach consumers, competition for attention has intensified. This has pushed companies to use the customer data they already have to deliver more personalized marketing. While established marketing platforms continue to serve this space, brands are now looking to AI-powered tools that can automate decision-making and reduce manual labor. MoEngage positions itself in this segment with its Merlin AI suite, which helps marketing and product teams launch campaigns faster and improve targeting efficiency.

MoEngage co-founder and CEO Raviteja Dodda (pictured above) said in an interview, “We help B2C brands engage with their customers more effectively by leveraging the first-party data they already have.

The 11-year-old startup spent its first seven years focusing on India and Southeast Asia. Over the past four years, it has expanded its reach into new markets, particularly North America, which now contributes more than 30% of its revenue, Dodda told TechCrunch. About 25% of the business comes from Europe and the Middle East and the remaining 45% from India and Southeast Asia.

Goldman Sachs’ support in the latest funding will help strengthen MoEngage’s global presence. The investment bank also co-led the startup $77 million Series E round With a capital B in June 2022.

“Current investors know the most about the company, how the company performs, and they know the good and the bad,” says Dodda. “[Goldman Sachs] Leading the round is a strong validation of our fundamentals.”

Over the past two to three years, MoEngage has invested heavily in generative AI and decision-making AI capabilities. These efforts are reflected in its Merlin AI suite, which Dodda says consists of various AI agents developed for marketing use cases.

Some of these agents act like copywriters, helping consumer brands draft marketing messages, create multiple forms of campaigns, or create natural language text with relevant images. The suite also includes decision-making AI tools that help brands determine which consumers will receive a particular message or offer, on which channel and at what time, Dodda said.

MoEngage currently serves over 1,350 consumer brands globally including SoundCloud, McAfee, Kayak, Domino’s, Deutsche Telekom and Travelz as well as prominent Indian household names such as Swiggy, Flipkart, Ola, Airtel and Tata. About 60% of the company’s business comes from traditional enterprises, with the remaining 40% from Internet-focused companies. The platform works with over 25 global banks and several major insurers including JPMorgan Chase, Citibank and India’s largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

Some of these brands previously used marketing platforms from incumbents such as Adobe, Oracle and Salesforce. MoEngage has won over 300 of them, helping to drive growth in North America and the EMEA region.

In one example, SoundCloud migrated 120 million users to MoEngage in 12 weeks, using AI-driven insights to accelerate product launches and drive retention among its paying users, said Hope Barrett, SoundCloud’s senior director of martech.

Several of MoEngage’s customers rely on multiple point solutions to handle specific tasks. The company helped consolidate these tools into a unified platform to reduce costs and streamline marketing operations.

“If you look at all our brands, whether it’s a bank or an e-commerce company, they can consolidate all their customer data from all touchpoints through MoEngage. Be it their offline stores, websites, mobile apps. [or other channels]” Dodda told TechCrunch.

Without disclosing exact figures, Dodda said MoEngage grew at around 40% year-on-year last year and aims to maintain a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% this year. The company expects to be adjusted EBITDA-positive on a quarterly basis by the end of the current fiscal year.

MoEngage sees companies like Braze and CleverTap as its main competitors, as well as legacy marketing clouds from Adobe, Oracle and Salesforce.

The startup has around 800 employees in 15 offices worldwide. It plans to expand its customer success, support, sales and marketing teams to deepen its presence in this market, particularly in North America and Europe. MoEngage intends to build additional AI capabilities and hire more talent to support that effort.

MoEngage plans to be IPO-ready within the next few years, Dodda told TechCrunch, without sharing a specific timeline for going public.

“We see an opportunity to build a multi-billion dollar revenue company in our space,” he said.