The round included participation from all previous investors Bain Capital Ventures, StarVest Partners, American Express Ventures and Citi Ventures.

Persado fuses language with data to transform people into the most effective communicators. The only existing solution of its kind, and one of few to successfully productize and commercialize cognitive computing technologies to date, Persado's platform employs natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to generate the precise combination of words, phrases and images that motivate any audience, at scale, in real time.

'Persado is revolutionizing how organizations communicate by propelling creativity into the data-driven age, arming brands with 'smart content' that resonates with any audience, every time, and inspires them to act,' said Alex Vratskides, CEO and co-founder of Persado. 'This latest round of funding will enable us to continue investing in distribution and product development. It will also accelerate our expansion into more digital channels and potentially other sectors beyond marketing, such as pharmaceutical adherence, fitness and personal motivation, civic engagement, human resources and more.'

'Persado has developed cognitive content generation technology that optimizes the way organizations use language to motivate action. As a result, Persado's customers have considerably more engaged relationships with their audiences across marketing channels, resulting in significantly greater revenue-generating activity,' said Mark Midle of Goldman Sachs' Merchant Banking Division, who has joined Persado's board of directors. 'We are excited to partner with Alex and the entire team as we work together to capitalize on this global opportunity.'

Since its inception, Persado has deployed cognitive content in thousands of marketing campaigns across a wide range of digital channels. It has accumulated response data from more than 40 billion impressions. More than 80 global brands, including three of the top five credit card issuers in North America, and Fortune 100 companies like Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, Citi and Sears, use Persado to maximize the impact of their marketing campaigns, resulting in a 49.5 percent average uplift in conversions, a 68.4 percent improvement on click-through rates, and $1 billion in incremental revenues.

'We are increasingly excited about Persado's ability to build a thriving business around a truly unique and differentiated technology,' said Laura Sachar, General Partner and co-founder, StarVest Partners. 'Persado stands out for driving great results for an impressive roster of customers -- the world's most recognizable brands -- with unparalleled consistency and effectiveness.'

'As Persado's lead launch investor, it's exciting to see their unrelenting drive to innovate and disrupt from the front lines,' said Scott Friend, Managing Director, Bain Capital Ventures. 'It's very rare to see a software company that defines and dominates its own category, grows greater than 100 percent annually and maintains unassailable technology barriers to entry.'

Persado currently employs more than 200 people across nine global locations. Persado continues to grow its workforce in 2016, adding headcount in sales and customer success to meet increasing demand, and data scientists and engineers to ramp up product development. Persado generates cognitive content for display ads, Facebook, email, website landing pages, SMS, and mobile push notifications.

About Persado, Inc.

Persado's cognitive content platform generates language that inspires action. Powered by cognitive computing technologies, the platform eliminates the random process behind traditional message creation. Persado arms organizations and individuals with 'smart content' that maximizes the efficacy of communication with any audience at scale, while delivering unique insight into the specific triggers that drive action.

Using Persado, leading brands such as Citi, MetLife, Microsoft, Neiman Marcus, Staples and Verizon Wireless have realized one billion dollars in incremental revenue and an average uplift of 49.5% in conversions across marketing campaigns. Winner of the DMA Innovation Award for Digital Technology, Persado's investors include Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital Ventures, StarVest Partners, American Express Ventures and Citi Ventures. Persado is headquartered in New York City with locations in San Francisco, Athens, London, Rome, Toronto, Frankfurt, Rio de Janeiro, and Lagos. For more information see www.persado.com.