Most sales startups focus on automating various aspects of the deal-making process such as lead management and outreach. Emissary Inc. is looking to make its mark in an entirely different way. 

The startup, which was founded in 2013 by Google LLC veteran David Hammer and has raised $14 million from investors, operates a “sales intelligence network” where salespeople can consult with former executives from the companies they’re targeting. Emissary today is bolstering its offering with the introduction of a new product that can automatically match users with insiders who possess the information they seek.

Called Emissary Match, it works in a fairly straightforward way. When a salesperson enters the details of a company into their team’s customer relationship management system, the service will find relevant insiders in Emissary’s network. The user can then receive background information about each contact in what the startup describes as an “inbox-focused” format.

The basic idea behind Emissary Match is that a company’s former executives can offer unique insight into how purchase decisions are made internally. A startup that offers, say, an ad delivery service could consult the past chief marketing officer of a firm to gain visibility into its cloud procurement policies. Such insiders can also point a salesperson in the direction of the current employees who wield the most influence when it comes to pushing deals through.   

Emissary counts former executives from about 75 percent of the Fortune 500 in its network. In conjunction with the introduction of Emissary Match, the startup announced the addition of over former 3,000 information technology decision-makers to the platform as part of a move to reach more industry segments.

The expansion extends Emissary’s reach far beyond the marketing software world, which is where it has been focusing its efforts so far. With that said, there are still many potential expansion opportunities left for the startup given how an insider’s perspective into a company can be useful for much more than just technology deals. 

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