Bonobo AI acquired by Salesforce

Following a successful engagement as part of our Drive with Belron programme, and subsequent L Marks investment, we are delighted to announce that Israeli conversational AI startup Bonobo AI is being acquired by software giant Salesforce, our first exit of an Israeli company.

Bonobo AI, founded in 2017 by Barak Goldstein, Efrat Rapoport, Idan Tsitiat, and Ohad Hen, analyses conversational data streams and converts these into actionable insights which can improve customer satisfaction, increase loyalty and allow for a truly personalised customer experience. Moreover, these insights can also drive greater conversion, upsell and retention by allowing customer-facing teams to understand their customers at scale.

Bonobo AI joined the third iteration of the Drive with Belron programme in 2018. Drive with Belron is an innovation lab created in partnership between L Marks and the global vehicle glass repair and replacement group Belron. Throughout the lab, Bonobo AI worked closely with Autoglass UK, to capture and analyse customer interactions – phone calls, emails, chat streams, etc – and turn these conversational data streams into actionable insights that improve customer satisfaction and increase loyalty.

Belron and L Marks quickly recognised the potential and capabilities of Bonobo AI and the impressive team. Speaking at the culmination of Drive with Belron last year, Sarah Ringrose, Head of Customer Experience at Autoglass UK, predicted their success: “Bonobo AI and the team will quickly expand and do really well. They have the right attitude and the right product”

The successful pilot in Drive with Belron resulted in a continued commercial engagement with Belron Group and a strategic investment from L Marks where we were part of their $4.5 million seed round with G20 Ventures and Capri Ventures.

Efrat Rapoport at Best of Belron — Efrat Rapoport being interviewed at Best of Belron 2018

Salesforce’s acquisition of Bonobo AI will allow them to expand upon their vision of “driving the Conversational Intelligence revolution” and helping companies know their customers like never before. Bonobo AI will enhance the power of Salesforce Sales Cloud by leveraging conversational intelligence within the Salesforce platform, allowing companies to utilise one of their most valuable sources of data – customer interactions.

Following the announcement of their acquisition by Salesforce, Daniel Saunders, Chief Executive of L Marks, said:

“Investing in Bonobo AI last year was a no-brainer. Over the course of the Drive with Belron innovation lab, we enjoyed working with Efrat and the rest of Bonobo AI team immensely. At the same time were able to witness the extraordinary potential of the company. Their technology was proven to be far more advanced than anything else on the market, the product worked in any environment it was tested in, and the team was dynamic and energetic that were a pleasure to work with. It has been an honour to be a part of their journey so far and we wish Bonobo AI and Salesforce every success working together.”