SimpleRelevance raises $1M for tech that gives emails a personal touch

Impersonal, mass emails are easy to dislike and ignore, which is why SimpleRelevance has raised $1 million.

SimpleRelevance’s platform gathers customer data and then personalized emails to specifically target individuals. The technology looks at information like past purchase behavior and combines it with geographic, social, and demographic’ data to send highly targeted emails. The goal is to make emails ‘smarter’ so the right message is automatically delivered at the right time, with custom subject line, content, and delivery times.

The company claims that this degree of customization can increase conversion rates by 51 percent, increase open rates by 21 percent, and increase click rates by 29 percent. It also said that companies integrating the technology into their marketing have seen revenue increases ranging from 40 to 400 percent, as well as better customer engagement.

“The “big data” revolution has exploded over the past decade,” said founder Erik Severinghaus in an email. “Companies now have access to massive amounts of data from multiple, disconnected platforms such as social media, web traffic, and internal sales systems. However, few companies know how to combine this data and make it actionable, especially from an email marketing perspective. Email marketing is one of the easiest and  cost effective forms of marketing, however it is still significantly behind from a technology perspective.”

The technology uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to get evaluate users and make predictions. It gets smarter over time and can be tuned for different types of interactions and objects. The solutions are comparable to those provided by Sailthru, another digital marketing company that raised $19 million in February for its Smart Data platform that personalizes communications through targeted emails, onsite and in-app recommendations, and text messages.

SimpleRelevance is a newer, smaller company that will participate in TechStar’s Chicago’s inaugural 2013 class. Hydpe Park Angels and Hyde Park Venture Partners led this round with participation from i2A Fund and additional angels. The funding will be used for recruiting and hiring, and to expand its enterprise-level solutions.