Sharpen Secures $14 Million in Funding Led by Bridge Bank and Multiplier Capital

INDIANAPOLIS–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sharpen Technologies, developers of the agent-first omnichannel cloud contact center platform, secured $14 million in growth funding, announced CEO Bill Gildea. Bridge Bank and Multiplier Capital led the investment round, along with participation from the company’s existing investors, including Cultivation Capital. This raise will be used across all departments to support the company’s rapid growth.

“Bridge Bank is excited to help lead this latest round of financing and partner with the team at Sharpen to support their strong growth,” said Brian McCabe, senior director in Bridge Bank’s Washington D.C.-based Technology Banking Group. “We look forward to seeing them continue growing in the CCaaS industry.”

The latest round of financing brings the total amount raised by Sharpen to over $55 million. It follows a year where the company experienced a +100% upsurge in revenue and a +40% increase in new bookings. At the same time, Sharpen was named to the 2020 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in America, based on a growth rate of 137% over the last three years.

Multiplier general partner Wilson King noted, “Sharpen offers a differentiated, cloud-native solution with a strong growth profile, an established market presence, and an experienced management team. We’re excited to partner with management and the existing investors to support the company’s continued growth and success.”

According to Gartner, prior to the pandemic, only 15% of the estimated $24 billion contact center market had transitioned to the cloud. New industry data from the research firm finds that 35% of the customer experience (CX) workforce will work-from-home by 2023, up from 5% in 2017. At the nexus of these two trends is Sharpen’s cloud-based, omnichannel platform, which with just a PC, headphones, and internet connection, lets agents easily work-from-anywhere.

“Our ability to attract investment partners of the caliber of Bridge Bank and Multiplier is a vote of confidence in our business model,” said Gildea. “By giving agents the tools and data they need to succeed, we succeed too. Our customers, in some cases, are saving more than they are spending with us, while we continue to shake up the contact center space and increase market share.”

About Sharpen Technologies

Sharpen Technologies is the world’s first, truly agent-focused contact center platform built in the cloud for the cloud. The omnichannel platform lets users work from anywhere, seamlessly moving between calls, texts, webchats, emails, social media, etc., all in real-time and in a single interaction. Sharpen was recognized by Frost & Sullivan’s Contact Center Buyers Guide, North America for its “dramatic ROI,” “out-of-the-box integrations,” “powerful reporting and analytics tools,” and “demonstrable value.” In 2020, it made the Inc. 5000, the magazine’s annual list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. And, it is a “Best Places to Work” by both Inc. (2019) and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce (2017, 2018, 2021). Visit Sharpen on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and the Sharpen blog.

About Bridge Bank’s Technology Finance Group

Bridge Bank’s Technology Finance group provides flexible financial solutions to emerging, mid- and late-stage technology companies throughout the U.S. The Technology Finance group works with venture- and non-venture-backed companies from inception through IPO and beyond. The team’s expertise spans multiple verticals including e-commerce, digital marketing, mobile, clean- and green-tech, telecommunications, infrastructure and more. Bridge Bank is a division of Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, the primary subsidiary of Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorporation, one of the country’s top-performing banking companies. Western Alliance is again #1 best-performing of the 50 largest public U.S. banks in the new S&P Global Market Intelligence listing for 2020 and ranks high on the Forbes “Best Banks in America” list year after year. Serving clients across the country wherever business happens, Western Alliance Bank operates individually branded, full-service banking divisions and has offices in key markets nationwide. For more information, visit bridgebank.com.

About Multiplier Capital

Multiplier Capital is a privately-owned $500M+ growth debt platform, with offices in Austin, New York and Washington, DC. It provides secured loans to rapidly growing, professionally-backed companies in the technology sector, including enterprise software, tech-enabled services, consumer e-commerce and healthcare technology sub-sectors. Companies choose Multiplier for its reliable, flexible and patient lending approach and ability to tailor growth capital solutions. The Multiplier partners have invested $1.4B+ in capital across 150+ transactions over the past 19 years as a team, and have a track record of delivering outstanding risk-adjusted returns through all market climates. Please visit www.multipliercapital.com for more information.