MoEngage, a platform specializing in customer engagement and collaborating with consumer brands in 75 countries, has announced a fresh round of funding led by its current backer, Goldman Sachs Alternatives. The new capital will be used to accelerate international expansion and further integrate AI into its offerings.
In total, $100 million worth of shares changed hands in MoEngage’s Series F round, with approximately 60% being primary shares and 40% secondary. This round also marks the debut of Indian venture capital firm A91 Partners as a co-lead investor alongside Goldman Sachs Alternatives. MoEngage reports that its cumulative funding now stands at $250 million.
With consumer brands increasingly turning to digital channels to connect with their audiences, the battle for attention has grown fiercer. This has driven companies to leverage their existing customer data for more tailored marketing efforts. While established marketing solutions remain in use, brands are now gravitating toward AI-powered tools that can automate processes and minimize manual work. MoEngage targets this need with its Merlin AI suite, designed to help marketing and product teams launch campaigns more swiftly and enhance targeting precision.
“We enable B2C brands to connect with their customers more efficiently by utilizing the first-party data they possess,” said Raviteja Dodda (pictured above), MoEngage’s co-founder and CEO, in an interview.
Founded 11 years ago, the startup initially concentrated on India and Southeast Asia for its first seven years. In the last four years, it has broadened its footprint to additional regions, especially North America, which now generates over 30% of its revenue, Dodda shared with TechCrunch. Europe and the Middle East account for about 25%, while India and Southeast Asia contribute the remaining 45%.
Goldman Sachs’ participation in this latest round will further strengthen MoEngage’s global reach. The investment bank also co-led the company’s $77 million Series E round with B Capital in June 2022.
“Existing investors have the deepest understanding of the company’s performance, both strengths and weaknesses,” Dodda explained. “Goldman Sachs leading this round is a strong endorsement of our core business.”
In the past two to three years, MoEngage has made significant investments in generative AI and decision-making AI. These advancements are evident in its Merlin AI suite, which Dodda described as featuring a variety of AI agents tailored for marketing applications.
Some of these AI agents function as copywriters, assisting brands in composing marketing content, generating multiple campaign versions, or producing natural language text with relevant visuals. The suite also includes decisioning AI tools that help brands identify the right customers, channels, and timing for specific messages or offers, according to Dodda.
MoEngage’s Merlin AI suite
Image Credits:MoEngage
MoEngage currently supports more than 1,350 consumer brands globally, including SoundCloud, McAfee, Kayak, Domino’s, Deutsche Telekom, and Travelodge, as well as leading Indian brands like Swiggy, Flipkart, Ola, Airtel, and Tata. Around 60% of its business comes from established enterprises, with the remaining 40% from internet-centric companies. The platform also partners with over 25 international banks and several major insurers, such as JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, and India’s Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).
A number of these brands previously relied on marketing solutions from established players like Adobe, Oracle, and Salesforce. MoEngage has since attracted over 300 of these clients, fueling its expansion in North America and the EMEA region.
For example, SoundCloud transitioned more than 120 million users to MoEngage in just 12 weeks, leveraging AI-powered insights to speed up product launches and boost retention among paying users, according to Hope Barrett, SoundCloud’s senior director of martech.
Many MoEngage clients also used a range of point solutions for different tasks. The company helped them consolidate these into a single platform, reducing costs and simplifying marketing workflows.
“Across all our clients, whether they’re banks or e-commerce firms, MoEngage is used to centralize customer data from every touchpoint—be it physical stores, websites, mobile apps, or other channels,” Dodda told TechCrunch.
While not revealing specific numbers, Dodda noted that MoEngage achieved roughly 40% year-over-year growth last year and aims to sustain a 35% compound annual growth rate over the next three years. The company also anticipates reaching adjusted EBITDA profitability on a quarterly basis by the end of the current fiscal year.
MoEngage identifies companies like Braze and CleverTap, as well as legacy marketing clouds from Adobe, Oracle, and Salesforce, as its primary competitors.
The startup employs around 800 people across 15 global offices. It intends to grow its team, particularly in North America and Europe, by expanding its customer success, support, sales, and marketing departments to strengthen its presence in those regions. MoEngage also plans to enhance its AI capabilities and recruit additional talent to support these initiatives.
MoEngage is working toward becoming IPO-ready within the next few years, Dodda told TechCrunch, though he did not specify an exact timeline for a public offering.
“We believe there’s a chance to build a company in our sector with multi-billion dollar revenues,” he added.
