The additional capital will enable Pypestream to continue its market leadership and rapid growth trajectory in the messaging, chatbots and AI space. Michael Nannizzi, a Director in W. R. Berkley’s corporate investment unit, joins Pypestream’s board of directors
NEW YORK – September, 2017 – Pypestream, the leading business-to-consumer messaging platform, today announced it has secured significant additional capital through a strategic investment by W. R. Berkley Corporation, a top US Insurance holding company with over 50 operating units. Investments in this sector primarily focus on best-of-breed emerging technology companies within the insurance industry.
This is Pypestream’s second financing round in 2017 and adds to the company’s rapid growth trajectory after on-boarding new customers in key verticals such as financial services, insurance, telecommunications, government, entertainment and consumer goods.
“The automated, on-demand experiences our customers now deliver to their customers through messaging, far exceed that of interacting with live agents or web chat – they’re fast, highly functional, intuitive and economically efficient,” said Richard Smullen, CEO of Pypestream. “We will use this additional investment to fuel growth across our core industries and use cases, and to help more businesses provide 24/7/365 experiences that their customers not only love but expect.”
Michael Nannizzi will join the board at Pypestream. He has held strategic, operating and financial roles within digital companies like walmart.com, and most recently spent over 10 years as an equity analyst across the financial sector with the prior seven as the lead insurance analyst at Goldman Sachs. Michael is a graduate of NYU’s Stern School of Business.
“Pypestream has the proprietary technology and world-class team to deliver its customer engagement solution at scale.” Michael Nannizzi, Director – Corporate Investments at W. R. Berkley, who led the due diligence process, said. “In addition to providing strategic vision, W. R. Berkley will bring Pypestream to our operating units to drive awareness.”
“The investment from W. R. Berkley, along with the added expertise, will drive Pypestream’s mission and strengthen our position as the leading provider of customer engagement solutions,” said Richard S. Braddock, Pypestream’s Executive Chairman. “Having a key person like Michael on the board will provide strategic insight into the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in our pursuit of the insurance industry.”
