SA国际传媒

, a San Francisco-based customer data infrastructure company, has raised $175 million in a led by existing investors & .

New investors , Continuity, and also participated in the round, which brings the startup鈥檚 total funding . The raise gives Segment a $1.5 billion valuation, according to Bloomberg, who “a person familiar with the matter.”

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The premise behind the company is that traditional CRM (customer relationship management) 鈥渋s no longer enough.鈥� Segment wants to provide data infrastructure for companies looking to give their customers a seamless experience – while also being mindful of privacy around data.

Eight-year-old Segment says it plans to use the money toward a few initiatives, including opening 鈥渕ultiple new offices鈥� across North America, Europe, Middle East and North Africa (EMEA), and Asia-Pacific 鈥渨hile significantly growing鈥� its team. The company currently employs over 350 people in San Francisco, New York, Vancouver and Dublin. In FY2019, Segment told SA国际传媒 News it increased its employee headcount by 74 percent and expanded its聽global footprint, opening a EMEA聽headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

Segment will also use the new funds to 鈥渁ccelerate the development and adoption鈥� of its 鈥淐ustomer Data Infrastructure鈥� platform, which is now being used in 71 countries. Enterprise customers include , , , and . The round will also help the startup invest in 鈥渇urther expanding its partner network.鈥�

In a , Segment said: 鈥淐ompanies must use dozens of business applications in their customer data stack, but they don鈥檛 have the data infrastructure necessary to integrate these applications seamlessly or respect customer privacy preferences consistently.鈥�

of Accel notes that his firm led Segment鈥檚 in 2014.

“Segment transforms the way that businesses collect and manage customer data, with a particular emphasis on first-party data,鈥� he said in the press release. 鈥淐ombined with powerful governance and audience management tools, Segment is the backbone for how great companies sell, market, and support their customers.鈥�

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