Nick Beim of Venrock will join the company's board. The company is also announcing the first release of Centricient Messaging and a partnership with Helix Business Solutions (http://helix.solutions).

Centricient Messaging is a cloud software application that connects enterprises and their customers via popular messaging platforms such as Facebook Messenger and SMS/Text messaging. Messaging has grown dramatically to become the dominant form of personal communication, bypassing telephony, email and social networking. Until now, customers haven't been able to communicate with companies in the same way.

'Modern consumers don't have time for phone calls, and waiting for an email response is worse than watching paint dry,' says Mike Myer, Founder & CEO of Centricient. 'With Centricient Messaging, a customer can use their favorite messaging app to be immediately connected with a company representative.'

Centricient Messaging is designed for Enterprise Customer Service. Standard features include a UI optimized to handle many simultaneous conversations, agent coaches to help ensure customers are getting timely responses, real-time monitoring for managers, performance metrics and contact center capabilities such as queuing, routing, transfer and collaboration.

'We're not replacing existing CRM systems, just making them better,' said Myer. 'Centricient Messaging can be easily and seamlessly added to a company's existing customer service operations, allowing the company to leverage its investment in business processes and systems.' Centricient is releasing standard integrations for Oracle Service Cloud, Salesforce and Zendesk.

'We've been keenly interested in how messaging will change business practices,' said Nick Beim of Venrock. 'We believe that messaging will become a significant channel of communication in the contact center. And there's no other team more qualified to make it happen.' Centricient's founding team has more than 50 years combined experience developing customer service software. Mike Myer, Centricient's CEO, was employee #7 at RightNow and served as its CTO and VP Product Development. RightNow went public in 2004 and was acquired by Oracle for $1.5 billion in 2011. RightNow is now Oracle Service Cloud.

Centricient is also announcing a partnership with Helix Business Solutions, the preeminent Oracle Service Cloud solutions integrator. Centricient will partner with Helix to sell and implement Messaging in the Oracle Service Cloud installed customer base.

'I can't think of a more natural partnership,' said Kevin Sherwood, Managing Partner at Helix Business Solutions. 'Our clients are anxious to tap into the popularity of messaging to further engage their customers. We will combine Centricient's innovative messaging platform and our deep expertise in customer experience to deliver an unmatched solution for Enterprise Messaging.'

For more information, please visit http://centricient.com

About Centricient
Centricient Messaging is the only enterprise-grade solution to connect companies and customers via text messaging (initially Facebook Messenger and SMS). Centricient Messaging seamlessly integrates with existing customer service systems, including Oracle Service Cloud, Salesforce and Zendesk. Centricient's team has deep experience in customer service software, having previously led the development of RightNow (now known as Oracle Service Cloud). Centricient is backed by Venrock and Next Frontier Capital and is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. Find out more at http://centricient.com.

About Helix Business Solutions
Leveraging over 700 successful Oracle CX engagements, Helix delivers brand defining customer experiences for the world's largest businesses across all industries. Helix provides cross-generational solutions that keep brands consistently aligned with their evolving and diverse audiences. Helix is based in Memphis, Tennessee, with offices in Bozeman and Dillon, Montana. Visit http://helix.solutions to learn more about modern customer experiences.

About Venrock
Originally established as the venture capital arm of the Rockefeller family in 1969, Venrock continues a tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to build industry-leading companies. With a primary focus on technology and healthcare, portfolio companies have included Apple Computer, Intel, Gilead Sciences, Idec Pharmaceuticals, Check Point Software, DoubleClick, Athenahealth, Illumina, Cloudflare, Appnexus and Dollar Shave Club. For more information, please visit Venrock's website at http://venrock.com and follow the firm on Twitter at @venrock.