The CDP industry is entering an even more competitive stage as established vendors fight to become dominant leaders, according to the CDP Institute’s latest Industry Update. The semi-annual study finds unprecedented fund-raising, accelerated growth by large firms, and an apparent slowdown in companies entering the industry. For further commentary, see this post in the Customer Experience Matrix blog.
Customer Data Platform (CDP) vendors stockpiled more than $1 billion in cash during 2021 as they prepared to battle for industry leadership, according to the CDP Institute’s latest Industry Update report. The semi-annual report found that the second half of the year saw four vendors announce rounds over $100 million, including an industry-record $234 million round by Treasure Data. Prior to that period, only one round over $100 million had ever been raised in the history of the industry. The new funds for industry leaders came at a time when few... Read More >
India-based cloud communications platform Exotel has raised a $40 million Series D, bringing total funding to $87 million. Oddly enough, Exotel doesn’t claim to provide a CDP to unify its cross-channel customer treatments. Yet.
Disney has agreed to license more than 200 characters, costumes, and environments (but not voices or talent likenesses) to OpenAI for Sora, its gen AI video platform. This is highly unusual for Disney, which generally sues AI models for copyright infringement; in fact, it sued Google for that a day before announcing the OpenAI deal. Disney will also invest $1 billion in OpenAI, nicely illustrating how very eager they are to join the AI party.