CA-KAHUNA

Kahuna , the leader in communication automation for the mobile era, announced today that it has raised $45 million in a Series B round. The new round will further fuel Kahuna’s acceleration in the marketing automation arena, which increasingly is being defined by new requirements in the mobile era. In a companion announcement today , Kahuna unveiled the latest advancement of its flagship offering which has evolved to become the world’s first communication automation platform powered by big data and modern machine learning. This innovation enables businesses to more intimately engage the people they serve across multiple channels.

“The rules for marketing have changed, and so have the technology requirements,” said Adam Marchick, co-founder and CEO of Kahuna. “With the latest evolution of the Kahuna platform, businesses will be able to augment their ability to connect meaningfully with people across all channels and devices, today and in the future. The Series B investment will enable us to further build on the platform’s capabilities to serve the evolving needs of our customers.”

Kahuna’s big footprint

The funding — led by Tenaya Capital, and joined by early investors Sequoia Capital, SoftTech VC, and others — comes at a time when Kahuna is poised to challenge leaders in adjacent technology categories, e.g., email marketing, a category occupied by incumbents ExactTarget (acquired by Salesforce; NYSE: CRM), and Responsys (acquired by Oracle; NYSE: ORCL). Kahuna’s groundbreaking IP in big data and machine learning has enabled the company to develop a holistic approach to personally engage customers at scale.

“The company is just getting started, yet is already serving many of the world’s best marketers,” said Ben Boyer, managing director of Tenaya Capital. “It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to guide the entire marketing industry through a major paradigm shift. It’s the age of ‘personal communication at scale,’ and Kahuna is front and center.”

“Kahuna is redefining the marketing agenda for future generations to come,” said Michael Moritz, Chairman at Sequoia Capital. “That is a very big footprint — about as big as they come — and Sequoia is excited to partner with Kahuna in this journey.”

About Kahuna

Kahuna is a pioneer in communication automation, dedicated to empowering businesses to grow and thrive in the mobile era. We enable a new level of authentic engagement between brands and their customers wherever they are -- the web, email, mobile, social channels -- through personalized communication at scale. Powered by big data and machine learning, we help create delightful experiences for every customer with the perfect message, delivered on the right channel, at just the right time.

Kahuna is trusted by Yelp, The Hearst Corporation, Overstock.com, The Weather Channel, and hundreds of other leading brands. Headquartered in Silicon Valley and with offices in New York, Kahuna was founded in 2012 and is funded by Sequoia Capital, SoftTech VC, Tenaya Capital, and others.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20150819005229/en/

Contact:

PAN Communications
Marki Conway, 617-502-4300
kahuna@pancomm.com