Almost three years ago to the day, Accel led the Series A in Narvar, the premium post-purchase customer engagement platform. At the time, the concept of establishing a post-purchase relationship was still relatively new — and needless to say, widely neglected. Most companies focused their efforts on customer acquisition and conversion and would sever the relationship with the customer as soon as they hit “buy.”
Shipping, returns, and communications were outsourced to outside vendors instead of being viewed as strategic opportunities to create customer loyalty. But with the meteoric rise of Amazon Prime and its two-day free shipping policy, that mentality changed pretty quickly. …
Today, we’re sharing that we led the $5 million Series A into Transit, a mobile service that simplifies the commute in over 135 metro areas around the world.
Mobile phones have completely transformed how we handle getting from point A to point B. These always-connected devices give us access to all sorts of different services like map-based navigation, on-demand transportation, and real-time public transit information. This “democratization of transportation” means it’s possible to peruse a bunch of information to choose the mode of travel that works best for you, for your budget, at any given moment in time.
But just because it’s possible doesn’t mean it’s easy. Getting the exact information you’re looking for often involves using different apps — and that’s if you know which app has the information you’re looking for. This makes it hard to compare information and combine services, aside from being a clunky, onerous experience. Then there’s the question of accuracy — is the information you’re getting the most up-to-date? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Other times it’s unclear. …
I’d like to introduce Jack Krawczyk, formerly the VP of Product at Pandora, as the latest Accel entrepreneur-in-residence (EIR).
Accel’s EIR program is designed to provide great talents with the resources and network to create great companies. This role allows people like Jack to work closely with Accel’s team and people in our broader network to refine ideas and themes and turn them into viable businesses.
Former Accel EIRs include Braintree and Venmo CEO Bill Ready, Cloudera founders Jeff Hammerbacher and Amr Awadallah, former Google Compute Engine lead architect and Kubernetes project initiator, Joe Beda, and MoPub co-founder and CEO, Jim Payne. …
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