The MarTech Minute: Salesforce adds Einstein Search, Tealium launches machine learning for CDP

MarTech Minute briefs always appear first in our daily newsletter throughout the week. Click here to subscribe. The following is our compilation of the past week’s briefs from those newsletters.

Iterable launches new personalization technology. Iterable announced the launch of Catalog, a deep personalization solution that can reach a database-wide scale. Catalog uses metadata to provide personalization of web components, including prices, images, location, and other descriptions while building relevant content, offers, and recommendations from marketer-selected metadata criteria. The tool also includes geolocation data for geo-bound personalized user experiences.

Lacework secures $42 million financing round. The cloud security platform announced the funding along with leadership changes. Lacework will receive $42 million from Sutter Hill Ventures and Liberty Global Ventures. The company has also hired cloud security veteran Andy Byron as president of its go-to-market functions. “Our new funding, new perspectives on the board of directors, and with Andy joining, are all going to be critical for how we build on our solid foundation as a cloud and container security leader,” said Dan Hubbard, CEO of Lacework. “Lacework and our growing list of customers agree that there is a need for a new generation of security companies that are purpose-fit to secure today’s modern infrastructure.”

Salesforce adds two verticals to cloud offering. Salesforce has announced the launch of two new vertical-specific clouds, dubbed Consumer Goods and Manufacturing Clouds. The company cited the rise of the fourth industrial revolution facing both industries. As part of the Consumer Goods Cloud, Salesforce is developing technology to help analyze what products brands are selling and provide insights into what’s popular among similar retailers. The Manufacturing Cloud will leverage the company’s Einstein AI for intelligent forecasting and improving accuracy in sales predictions to connect sales, manufacturing and operations.

Enterprise AI provider closes series B funding round. Element AI, a company that builds artificial intelligence tools for enterprises, has raised $151 million in a series B round of funding from a group of previous and new investors, including Gouvernement du Québec, Data Collective (DCVC), Hanwha Asset Management, BDC, Real Ventures, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), and McKinsey & Company. The Montreal-based startup has now raised a total of $257 million since launching, including its large $102 million series A round in 2017. Microsoft’s venture capital (VC) arm also invested an undisclosed amount in Element AI back in 2016.

Workforce communication platform raises $45 million in series B financing. Beekeeper, an operational communications platform for non-desk workers, announced the close of a $45 million series B funding round. The financing was led by Thayer Ventures and Swisscanto Invest by Zürcher Kantonalbank. The funding is anticipated to help accelerate the adoption of the platform which was created for organizations with more than 50% of its workforce who are not connected on email or other devices. Current customers include Hyatt Hotels, Dollar General, Domino’s Pizza and SeaBoard Foods. 

Salesforce takes the wraps off of Einstein Search. Salesforce has released Einstein Search for Commerce and Einstein Search Recommendations. The new Einstein capabilities are expected to bring personalized and actionable search to its Sales and Service Cloud platforms. “If you’re like 93% of people connected to the internet, you use a search engine to find, purchase, or learn about pretty much anything that comes to mind. Consumer search engines provide a seamless way for us to make sense of our complex world. And consumers are used to a search experience that is fast, accurate, and constantly improving,” said Salesforce VP of Product Management Will Breetz. “In building this feature, we had to completely rethink the search experience so that it would scale to our hundreds of thousands of customers. Search should help you quickly find critical information and drive productivity to help resolve customer issues faster.”

Tealium launches machine learning tech for CDP. Real-time customer data orchestration provider Tealium has launched Tealium Predict, a built-in machine learning technology for its customer data platform, Tealium AudienceStream. Tealium Predict activates machine learning insights from across the entire tech stack. “Organizations spend a vast amount of their time wrangling data and figuring out how to deploy and activate insights,” said Mike Anderson, founder and CTO of Tealium. “With our continued focus on data orchestration, we’re in the perfect position to offer a machine learning product integrated right into our CDP solution. We can deliver machine learning data into a customer’s entire downstream tech stack, whether any of those stack tools have machine learning capabilities or not.”

BigCommerce, JetRails partnership. JetRails, a website hosting service for ecommerce businesses, announced a partnership with ecommerce platform BigCommerce to provide sites with stores using Headless Commerce with tailored CMS hosting. “Ecommerce merchants, marketers, and web developers want to be able to leverage their favorite CMS platforms, like WordPress and Drupal, with a SaaS eCommerce solution. By meeting this demand head-on, BigCommerce is leading the way forward for a new generation of online stores,” said Robert Rand, director of partnerships and alliances at JetRails.

IBM Inventory Visibility launches. IBM’s new modular supply chain application is designed to help companies in high-turn inventory industries improve profitability and customer experience. With a single, real-time view of inventory tracking across the entire fulfillment network, companies can optimize order management processes. IBM Inventory Visibility aims to increase inventory ROI by balancing inventory to increase turns, while reducing necessary safety stock and carrying costs. It can integrate with existing order management or ERP systems — not just IBM Order Management.