Databricks raises $1.6 billion, Drift becomes a Unicorn and more

Databricks raises $1.6B at a $38B valuation

Databricks, a data- and AI-focused company secured a $1.6 billion round at a $38 billion valuation during a Series H funding round. Data bricks makes open source and commercial products for processing structured and unstructured data in one location. The funding round was led by Counterpoint Global, a Morgan Stanley fund. Other new investors included Baillie Gifford, UC Investments and ClearBridge in addition to early investors in the firm.

This latest raise comes just seven months after the late-stage startup raised $1 billion on a $28 billion valuation. The new capital will help the company secure market leadership.

Drift becomes a unicorn after a strategic investment from Vista Equity Partners 

Drift, a revenue acceleration platform enters a strategic partnership with Vista Equity Partners to become a unicorn. Drift will benefit from Vista’s industry experience, best practices, and large ecosystem as its portfolio business. 

The firm aims to make business buying frictionless, enjoyable, and human. The transaction is expected to be finalized in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to Drift and Vista.

Contentsquare Acquires Hotjar To Help Businesses Curate Better Digital Experiences

Contentsquare, a leader in digital experience analytics, has announced an association with Hotjar, the leading product experience insights platform in the SMB market. They will help businesses of every size to deliver outstanding digital experiences to their customers. Hotjar will gain from Contentsquare's advanced technology and resources, while Contentsquare will benefit from Hotjar’s reach and product-led growth.

Salesforce Launches New Innovations for its Sales Cloud Platform

Salesforce has come up with three innovations for its Sales Cloud platform. The three innovations include new Sales Enablement, Revenue Intelligence, and Subscription Management for sales teams. They can accelerate the growth with integrated sales enablement resources, Einstein-powered insights, and self-service options for empowering customers.

As a company, Salesforce offers one of the most sophisticated CRM products on the market. These new  innovations will let sales leaders enjoy new insights, help them close deals, accelerate deals via data-driven coaching, manage subscription journeys, and boost revenue with the help of insights from Einstein.

Revenue Grid Raises $20M in Series A Funding

Revenue Grid, a revenue operations and intelligence platform, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by W3 Capital, walong with participation from ICU Ventures, CRM industry, and Bob Stutz. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate growth and expand operations.

The company provides a SaaS platform that allows sales teams to see what they couldn’t see before and immediately act on outreach, opportunity risks, and engagement. It helps automate sales routines and playbooks, follow sales best practices, find and fix gaps in the sales process, and measure the impact that changes have driven.