Banks back Context Relevant in the predictive analytics startup's $13.5M round

Four months after showing off a $21 million funding round, predictive analytics startup Context Relevant today announced $13.5 million in additional funding, with some big banks jumping in.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bloomberg Beta, Goldman Sachs, Formation 8, and New York Life participated in this round. And in the case of Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, the participation has strategic meaning: The banks are using the startup’s technology.

Context Relevant’s predictive analytics software can come in handy to determine who should receive certain marketing materials and thereby increase sales. The service could help companies understand what customers will do and then take action before businesses take their business somewhere else.

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Companies have been taking up data-driven marketing and sales tools from startups like Context Relevant, Infer, Radius, and 6sense, and as that happens, these newer approaches could become more of a standard. Which is why investors have been keen to invest in the market.

Context Relevant believes its product could contribute to companies’ efforts to perform risk analysis, fraud detection, and equities hedging. Small wonder the banks are participating in the funding now.

Established in 2012, Seattle-based Context Relevant has now raised $42 million.