Even with a potential venture capital drought ahead, some startups are still raising money.
Seattle-area startup Qorus announced a $5 million investment Tuesday to fuel growth of its sales enablement software.
Founded in 2012, Qorus helps companies craft sales proposals. It’s similar to competitors such as fellow Seattle startup Highspot, which raised $75 million in December 2019.
“We have great customers across industries like legal, tech and healthcare who use our product to quickly access content at the right time in the sales process and easily create winning pitches, proposals and RFP responses,” said CEO Ray Meiring.
Qorus’ secret sauce is its integration with Microsoft applications such as Office and Dynamics, Meiring said. More than 4,000 users within the Microsoft Partner Network use Qorus, which runs on Azure.
“Qorus’ integration with Microsoft Teams supports remote workers,” noted Meiring. “This is especially helpful right now with the current COVID-19 constraints.”
Showpad and Seismic are some of its other competitors.
Meiring said recent usage of Qorus has increased in some of its key markets despite the economic slowdown, and the company is finding new revenue with digital events.
Qorus recently hired Microsoft veteran Jennifer Tomlinson as its EVP of marketing.
The National Venture Capital Association reported that venture capital investment is expected to “drop significantly” due to the global pandemic. But investors are still betting on Qorus, which plans to continue adding to its 58-person team.
“We believe Qorus, with its superior technology platform, is perfectly positioned to provide remote sales teams with the advanced tools they need to stay productive in today’s challenging economic environment,” WestRiver Group Managing Director Anthony Bontrager said in a statement.
Seattle-based WRG led the round. The firm recently launched four new funds.
Qorus originally started in Cape Town, South Africa and maintains an office there. Total funding is $12.5 million to date.