Investors are placing fresh bets on customer relationship management (CRM) startups, indicating that plenty of growth potential remains in a 20-year-old market.

Emissary Inc. launched yesterday with a $10 million series A funding round for its proposition of connecting salespeople with former executives from companies they’re trying to reach. Founded by former Google Product Manager David Hammer, the service is kind of a cross between expert-for-hire agencies and LinkedIn. The company has recruited more than 5,000 people called Emissaries who agree to guide salespeople through the often Byzantine organizational structures of prospect companies to reach decision-makers. The company wouldn’t say how much Emissaries are paid.

Along the way, they offer insights into such nuances as company culture, hierarchies and how companies make buying decisions. “Every organization hungers for access to information that lives beyond their walls, but they don’t know how to get it. Likewise, millions of people have valuable knowledge that they’re not doing anything with,” Hammer wrote in an essay on the Emissary website. “Our mission is to connect the two.”

The funding round was led by Canaan Partners and G20 Ventures. It follows on an earlier $2 million seed round of financing from New York Times Co., Google Ventures and Nextview Ventures. Emissary is “a one-stop shop for intelligence that eliminates the blind spots we all face along the sales journey,” Bob Hower, co-founder of G20 Ventures, said in a prepared statement.

Emissaries are vetted through a written application process and first-person interviews that focus on recency, seniority and relevance, the company said. Among the company already represented by Emissaries are Nordstrom Inc., Estée Lauder Companies Inc., Coca-Cola Co., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Caterpillar Inc., JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A, Federal Express Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Home Depot Inc.

Emissary requires buyers to make an up-front commitment to a six- or 12-month contract that typically starts in the tens of thousands of dollars, the company said. The fee includes a package of multiple Emissary engagements.

Freshdesk raises $55 million

Freshdesk Inc. today is announcing a a $55 million series F funding round led by new investor – Sequoia India – along with current existing Accel Partners LP. The new funding brings the Chennai, India-based CRM firm’s total war chest to $150 million.

Founded in 2010, Freshdesk goes after small and midsized business customers using a “freemium” subscription model that provides free licensing for installations of up to 10 users and more-functional versions on a monthly subscription basis. Since its last funding found in April 2015, the company said it has doubled its free and paid installation base to more than 80,000 organizations, opened an office in Germany and added both an in-app engagement platform and a new CRM service targeted at sales organizations.

The company said the new funding will be used to continue global expansion and accelerate sales of its core platforms. The company initially focused on CRM for support organizations, but it has been expanding into other areas, making six acquisitions along the way. The include, most recently, Chatimity Software Pvt Ltd., a Bangalore-based maker of chatbots.

Image courtesy of Emissary