Cisco Backs Israeli Marketing Conversation Analytics Startup Gong

Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of multinational networking hardware and telecommunication company Cisco Systems, has invested in Israeli conversation analytics startup Gong.io Ltd., as part of an extension to its Series A funding round, the company announced Monday. The company did not reveal the amount Cisco has invested.

For daily updates, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here.

Gong’s online service gives sales representatives insights into their interactions with customers by analyzing recorded phone calls and tracking keywords and topics of conversation. Founded in 2015 by Amit Bendov and Eilon Reshef, both with a background in sales and marketing, Gong has around 50 employees in offices in Herzliya, a town in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, and in Palo Alto, California. Gong’s existing backers include California-based venture capital firms Norwest Venture Partners and Wing Venture capital.

“Cisco Investments’ involvement will help fuel our continued growth and expedite our penetration into the collaboration and communication markets,” Gong CEO Amit Bendov said in a statement.

“Cisco Invests in companies that capture major market transitions,” Rob Salvagno, vice president of Corporate Development and Cisco Investments, said in a statement. “Gong’s introduction of contextual and action-driven artificial intelligence specifically tailored for sales conversations represents a major overhaul in the way companies engage with customers, and augments collaboration tools to make them more valuable to businesses.”

Also on Monday, Gong announced that it had acquired sales Intelligence platform ONDiGO for an undisclosed amount. Israel-based ONDiGO automatically analyzes sales teams’ activities such as emails, meetings, and phone calls, measuring sales performance and alerting sales executives. Gong said ONDiGO’s team would join Gong following this transaction.