Kana, a recently launched technology company focused on improving community engagement has just completed a $15 million seed funding round. Mayfield was instrumental in shepherding this historic investment. The investment marks a significant milestone for the startup, which aims to transform the marketing landscape through innovative artificial intelligence solutions. Co-founders Tom Chavez and Vivek Vaidya have more than 25 combined years of experience in marketing technology to their credit. Tom joins as the CEO, with Vivek as CTO.
The company’s flagship offering includes “loosely coupled” AI agents that marketers can customize “dynamically.” This flexibility gives businesses the freedom to blend Kana’s powerful AI solutions with their current legacy marketing software without missing a beat. More efficient, effective, and sophisticated campaign management. Unlike traditional systems, Kana’s agents can work at the same time across multiple tasks, making campaign management faster and more effective.
Kana’s platform is unique in that it allows marketers to deploy, customize and even create entirely new AI agents in real-time. This powerful capability shifts results of campaign outcomes years to be able to get over traditional channels. Using Kana’s sophisticated technology, Kana’s agents are able to review media briefs to understand campaign objectives and outline desired target audiences. Beyond that, they can extract critical information from both inventory and market analysis, making data-driven decision-making possible.
Businesses can dramatically lower the costs of procuring third-party data by using Kana’s solution. In doing so, they simultaneously have the potential to patch holes in their own datasets. The multi-platform system empowers marketers to run more advanced tests faster across various platforms, quickly homing in on the most effective strategies that drive success.
Tom Chavez expressed confidence in Kana’s approach, stating, “We have the opportunity, it’s not to create bespoke solutions, but to highly tailor and configure these solutions to meet customers where they are. Larger companies just are never going to get there.” This positive vibe is a great representation of the company’s desire to deliver a full range of flexible solutions that really address the individual needs of each client.
In addition to bricks and clicks, Vivek Vaidya highlighted the need for cooperation in this age of marketing technology. “We live in a world which allows us to explore a third option [with customers]: not build, not buy, but build with — build with in a way which is supported,” he said. This collaborative, consultative approach fits seamlessly with Kana’s larger vision to improve our customers’ marketing processes by embedding custom AI solutions into their existing processes and systems.
The market demand for more sophisticated, targeted marketing solutions has never been greater. Chavez highlighted this need, stating, “We see a market that’s crying out for solutions that meet this moment […] We understand the space deeply, having wallowed in it arguably a little too long. Having really stood in our customers’ pain.” This deep understanding of customer challenges uniquely positions Kana to be successful in spite of entering a very competitive market.
In reaction to the recent round, Kana’s strategy involves hiring new staff primarily in engineering, product development and go-to-market execution. Navin Chaddha, managing partner at Mayfield, has joined Kana’s board. His experience at providing strategic leadership will be an asset as the company continues scaling its operations.
In sign-off, Chavez underscored the thrilling prospects ahead for Kana, saying simply, “It’s an amazing time to be creating. Kana’s innovative technology and strategic vision will change how companies approach marketing in the digital age. Prepare to make a big splash in the 2023 industry!