Crossbeam, Provider Of Client Data Sharing Platform, Receives $12.5 Million In Series A Funds

Crossbeam, a provider of a collaborative data platform that enables vendors and their partners to determine overlapping accounts, has announced a $12.5 million Series A round led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from existing investors Uncork Capital and Slack Fund.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Crossbeam was launched to address a problem that co-founder and CEO Bob Moore faced as he sought to recruit channel partners for other firms he had launched. “I don’t know how many times we had to answer the question, ‘How many customers do we have in common and who are they?’ Or ‘Are your sales reps currently selling to any of the same companies that my sales reps are selling to?’”

That question is relatively easy to answer “if one side or the other is willing to give up all of their data,” said Moore. But the reluctance of partners to share client information with vendors combined with concerns about privacy-protecting regulations such as GDPR and the upcoming California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) have been making the cross-checking of account data more problematic.

The Crossbeam platform enables vendors and partners to combine and analyze customer information to determine overlaps and discover business opportunities while “never having to worry about the non-overlapping data making it to the other side,” said Moore. Vendors and partners retain complete control and ownership over how and when their data is used.

Companies have a variety of options of how data can be reviewed. For example, Crossbeam, which seamlessly integrates with all major systems of record for sales pipeline and customer data, can determine the magnitude of overlapping clients. If both the vendor and partner agree, Crossbeam can reveal the identities of the shared customers or prospects.

The Crossbeam interface allows users to define populations such as an existing customers, active sales opportunities, or target accounts. Vendors and their partners can collaborate on assigning clients to populations, which the solution updates automatically.

The discovery of shared accounts can lead to co-selling or account-based marketing activities, which Moore said are common use-cases. “Instead of just knowing which accounts overlap, I also know who the rep is on your side that owns the account and I can have my data share who the rep is on my side. With that level of insight, we can cut out a lot of process and bureaucracy and just allow those reps to be directly connected.”

Crossbeam enables vendors to identify and track opportunities for partners and can be integrated into the workflow of team members to provide a stream of “next best action” and data-driven insights. It also offers a deeper understanding of partner revenue attribution by providing visibility into partner influence at every stage of the funnel. Vendors can review closed deals to identify how and when partner relationships were in play.