American technology firm Cisco Systems Inc. has agreed to acquire venture capital-backed Chennai- and US-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) startup CloudCherry Analytics Pvt. Ltd.
The proposed acquisition is expected to enhance firm’s “contact center” to improve customer experiences with the power of cloud data analytics, Cisco said in a statement. It did not disclose the timeline and the financial details of the acquisition.
The contact centre uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to enable more personalised customer experience, optimum use of data and extend the use of cloud to host and on-premises deployments.
“Together, Cisco and CloudCherry will help companies transform their contact center from delivering reactive care to providing predictive support and move from isolated customer interactions to cohesive, engaging experiences for improved business outcomes,” the statement added
CloudCherry, which was founded in 2014 by Vinod Muthukrishnan and Sriram Subramanian, is a customer experience management (CEM) company. It raised over Rs 6 crore (around $1 million then) in seed funding from The Chennai Angels and Chiratae Ventures (formerly IDG Ventures India) in July 2015. Subsequently, it raised Series A financing in September 2016 when Vertex Ventures, Cisco Investments and Chiratae had invested $6 million
In September 2018, it raised $9 million (around Rs 64 crore) in the second round of Series A funding. The round was led by US-based early-stage venture capital firm Pelion Venture Partners.
Cisco, which is already an investor in Cloudcherry through its venture capital arm Cisco Investments, made its first acquisition in India when it took over Bengaluru-based IT security firm Pawaa Software Pvt. Ltd for an undisclosed amount in 2015.
In 2017, Cisco said it planned to acquire IIT-Kanpur and BITS Pilani alumni-founded, hyper-convergence firm Springpath Inc. for $320 million.