Milwaukee-based cloud communications provider CorvisaCloud has received a $30 million capital infusion from parent company Novation Companies that it says will boost sales, marketing, and product development, as well as spur potential acquisitions.
CorvisaCloud, founded in 2011, develops cloud-based software for customers’ contact centers. The funding announcement follows CorvisaCloud’s April 15 release of its new platform that allows businesses and developers to build voice and SMS apps from scratch or customize existing CorvisaCloud products.
Prior to the $30 million investment, Novation had put $7.5 million into CorvisaCloud, said CorvisaCloud president Matt Lautz. Novation is a Kansas City, MO-based public holding company that focuses on scaling startups.
“CorvisaCloud is experiencing strong momentum in the cloud contact center arena, and as a result, we believe the time is now to take this company to the next level,” said Novation CEO Lance Anderson in a press release. “The additional funds will drive substantial enterprise value while helping propel operations and allowing us to look at potential acquisitions. We look forward to accelerating CorvisaCloud’s initial success and building upon its increasing roster of globally recognizable brand name clients.”
CorvisaCloud’s clients include DirectBuy of Merrillville, IN, and Heartland Payment Systems, based in Princeton, NJ. Lautz declined to share how many customers his company has accrued since its full product suite launched in early 2013.
“There is a dramatic shift happening in the cloud-based contact center market, as businesses of all sizes are increasingly migrating their IT operations to the cloud,” Lautz said in an e-mail. “Contact centers are a key part of customer service in an organization, but powering and maintaining legacy systems is expensive, and the data can be difficult to collect and manage. CorvisaCloud helps to fill this gap in the market and has been experiencing growth because of organizations who are not yet using cloud-based contact center solutions but are planning to move in this direction.”
CorvisaCloud was originally called IVR Central, a Milwaukee startup that Novation acquired majority ownership of in 2012, I previously reported for the Milwaukee Business Journal.
Sister companies CorvisaCloud and Corvisa Services operate out of the same office near downtown Milwaukee, with more than 100 employees. Corvisa Services has provided software development and creative services for its Novation sister companies, but most of its staff will now focus on CorvisaCloud products and services, Lautz said.
CorvisaCloud expects to add more than 60 employees over the next year, most of them in Milwaukee, Lautz said. The company will also add staff at its smaller offices in Chicago and Tampa, FL.
