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Ex-Google Executive Raises $12 Million to Launch Emissary Platform, Making Businesses Smarter Than They've Ever Been
[October 31, 2016]

Ex-Google Executive Raises $12 Million to Launch Emissary Platform, Making Businesses Smarter Than They've Ever Been


Emissary launches today as the only platform providing exclusive insights directly from the minds of business executives to leading enterprise sales teams. By delivering actionable and personalized intelligence not available anywhere online, Emissary is a must-have tool for sales teams to close big business deals.

By directly connecting clients to former executives who have accumulated invaluable knowledge throughout their careers, Emissary takes over where Google (News - Alert) searches, social networks and sales automation software leave off. Over 5,000 experienced business leaders on Emissary provide personalized insights about the organizations they have previously worked for - such as what the company culture is, who the key decision makers are and how the company makes buying decisions.

Emissary recently closed a $10 million Series A funding round led by Canaan Partners and G20 Ventures. This follows a previous $2 million seed round of financing from The New York Times, Google Ventures and Nextview Ventures.

Emissary is founded by former Google Product Manager David Hammer. While at Google, Hammer worked alongside some of today's most accomplished technology executives including Sundar Pichai, Marissa Mayer and Susan Wojcicki to create products responsible for billions of dollars of revenue for the company. Over six years at the company, he led the team that developed the renowned Doubleclick Bid Manager ad technology.

"At Google I came to realize that we all have valuable, tacit knowledge that was not available online," said Hammer, the founder and CEO of Emissary. "With Emissary, we're using technology to gain access to relationship-driven knowledge from trusted sources that can often make the difference between whether or not you close a deal."

"How companies build and scale their enterprise sales efforts is evolving rapidly with the rapid adoption of new technologies and services," said Warren Lee, General Partner at Canaan Partners. "Emissary provides a unique and powerful offering that enables sales organizations to become fundamentally smarter in how they target and win new clients and customers."



"For 25 years as a VC and startup executive, I've seen how important human intelligence is to enterprise sales," said Bob Hower, co-founder of G20 Ventures. "There's much more 'data' readily available today, but real, relevant intelligence is still time consuming and expensive to find, if you can at all. Emissary changes that - they are a one-stop shop for intelligence that eliminates the blind spots we all face along the sales journey."

Business leaders on the platform - referred to as "Emissaries" - are thoroughly vetted by the company to make sure they have the experience and knowledge to support client needs. Clients are matched with Emissaries who have the right insights based on unique goals for each account. There are thousands of Emissaries on the platform from Nordstrom, Estee Lauder, Coca Cola, Samsung, Caterpillar, JPMorgan Chase, FedEx, Costco, The Home Depot, Uber, Omnicom (News - Alert) Media Group and other top global companies.


ABOUT EMISSARY

Emissary is the only platform that unlocks valuable business intelligence directly from the minds of former executives at top companies worldwide. With actionable and personalized knowledge not available anywhere online, Emissary provides sales teams with important insights to close business deals. A must-have for any enterprise sales team, Emissary takes over where Google leaves off with information and advice not available through search engines, social networks or sales automation software. There are thousands of Emissaries from top global companies available for clients to connect with on the platform. For more information, visit www.emissary.io.

ABOUT CANAAN PARTNERS

Since 1987, Canaan has partnered with entrepreneurs to catalyze the growth of disruptive technology startups and healthcare companies revolutionizing the practice of medicine. The firm targets early-stage investments across a wide range of sectors including financial technology, marketplaces and enterprise software, as well as biopharma, oncology and digital health.

With $4.2 billion under management and over 180 exits to-date, Canaan was the first and lead investor in Lending Club (NYSE:LC), the fourth largest internet IPO in the U.S., and realized nine healthcare M&As and three IPOs since 2014.

Canaan maintains a presence in the global innovation hubs of Silicon Valley, New York and Connecticut, as well as a subsidiary in Israel. For more information, visit www.canaan.com and follow us on Twitter (News - Alert@CanaanPartners.

ABOUT G20 VENTURES

G20 Ventures provides early traction capital for East Coast enterprise tech startups, backed by the power and expertise of 20 of the Northeast's most accomplished entrepreneurs.


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