Amplitude, a cloud startup that tracks user behaviors online, is now valued at $ 1 billion

A bustling Bay Area startup that tracks online user behavior has raised new funding from Sequoia Capital and Benchmark Capital for a valuation of $ 1 billion.

San Francisco-based Amplitude Analytics, which provides companies with software to monitor online products and features compatible with customers, has raised $ 50 million in a Series E funding round led by the fund ruler of Singapore GIC, the company said. Forbes.

Demand for its product has increased as the Covid-19 pandemic has forced companies to find the best way to engage customers on their online platforms. Every month, Amplitude says it tracks more than 1,000 billion “customer behaviors,” such as browsing an app or selecting a payment method – a number that has climbed 44% since it began. March, when the pandemic hit the United States “The last two months have just accelerated an inevitable digital transformation and a decade of evolution in the space of a few weeks,” says Pat Grady, Sequoia partner who led the company’s Amplitude financing.

By collecting such amounts of data on user behavior, Amplitude then provides its customers with information about online features that engage users. For example, home exercise bike company Peloton used Amplitude software to learn that its customers frequently used a ‘virtual high five’ feature that allowed riders to send cheers to others by tapping on their profile. user during spinning lessons. The Calm meditation app found that its users frequently set a “meditation reminder” using Amplitude software.

Launched in 2014, the idea for Amplitude was born out of the failure of a voice recognition startup led by CEO and co-founder Spenser Skates, who acknowledged the lack of services to monitor what keeps customers coming back for more. online platforms. The company quickly caught the attention of Benchmark, which led its first $ 9 million funding round in 2015. The company, which ranked in the 2019 rankings Forbes Cloud 100 list, says it now has 800 paying client companies, including Square, Burger King, Instacart and PayPal, and that its product is used by more than 40,000 apps and online platforms; Skates plans to double that figure by the end of 2020.

Dispelling online privacy concerns, Skates says his company’s software only tracks anonymized user data from Amplitude customers, and then aggregates the information to provide analytics on how an online feature is being used.

The company is entering a cloud-based software industry currently occupied by technology giants Adobe Experience Cloud, which provides online marketing and web analytics tools, and Google Analytics, which tracks website traffic. However, given the rapid rise in Amplitude’s valuation and popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, the company could be on track to compete with its competitors, Sequoia’s Grady said. “It’s no exaggeration to say this is the next Adobe [Experience] Cloud.”

Amplitude is one of a small group of tech startups that are still attracting investment by allowing an increasingly home-based workforce to stay connected. Notion, a workplace productivity startup and Slack rival funding raised at a valuation of $ 2 billion in March. And last month, cloud-based design company Figma also reached $ 2 billion Evaluation. The success comes as other tech companies – including Uber and Airbnb – are laying off thousands of workers and being forced to reimagine their futures, as demand for services dwindles.

Talks for Amplitude’s latest funding have intensified as the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic materializes, Skates said. In addition to GIC, Sequoia and Benchmark, existing investors Battery Ventures, IVP and Lead Edge also joined the round, bringing its total capital raised to $ 186 million.

Skates does not disclose Amplitude’s specific financial metrics, but claims the company generates nearly $ 100 million in annual recurring revenue. He says the company is not profitable, but is focused on growth, and that the new capital will allow the company to consider potential acquisitions and mergers, Skates says; in March, it acquired predictive analytics firm ClearBrain for an undisclosed amount. “Now we can spend more without worrying about whether we are shortening the track too much. “