Secure business communications startup LeapXpert Inc. said today it has bagged $180 million in a growth round of funding to build out its artificial intelligence capabilities and generate valuable intelligence for enterprises.

Riverwood Capital led the round, and Portage Ventures was named as the only other participant.

LeapXpert’s rise to prominence came in the wake of a shift in enterprise communications, which now largely take place on messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Signal, WeChat and iMessage almost as much as they do on sanctioned, enterprise-grade tools such as Slack. The informal conversations that occur on these platforms sit outside of traditional security systems, creating challenges for organizations in terms of compliance. A second big problem is that the data within these channels cannot easily be tapped for insights, despite being an extremely valuable asset.

The startup has developed a platform that aims to solve both challenges. Its Governed Communications Systems technology acts as a kind of bridge, making it possible for an enterprise’s clients to use their favorite messaging apps, while its employees respond through secure tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, or LeapXpert’s own chat application.

By centralizing and securing these communications, LeapXpert also provides a way to tap into the data they generate. Its AI algorithms can analyze user’s conversations to extract valuable business insights from them. The company sells two distinct products to facilitate this, including LeapXpert Signals, which is a kind of centralized dashboard that allows teams to monitor an organization’s client conversations, and Maxen, which is a communications assistant application aimed at helping individual employees be more productive.

Founder and Chief Executive Dima Gutzeit said much of the world’s business today gets done in messaging apps. “The next wave of enterprise value will come from making those conversations trusted, connected and actionable,” he explained. “But AI can only work with what enterprises can see and govern. We give every organization the infrastructure to govern their conversations and the intelligence to act on them.”

According to Gutzeit, hundreds of businesses already rely on LeapXpert to secure and govern their conversations, including Lloyds Bank plc, SoftBank Group Corp. and the venture capital firm Insight Partners LLC.

Riverwood Managing Partner Jeff Parks said LeapXpert represents the next leap forward in enterprise communications. “The first generation of enterprise communication software archived conversations. The next governed them. The latest puts AI to work inside them,” he said. “LeapXpert leads that progression today.”

Going forward, LeapXpert will use the funds from today’s round to expand its communications governance and intelligence platform across the financial services and government sectors, followed by the broader enterprise market. It’s particularly focused on expanding into Europe, Latin America and Asia, it said, and will also look to invest in enhancing its AI capabilities to deliver even more valuable intelligence to its customers.

Portage Ventures General Partner Ricky Lai said LeapXpert was one of the first companies to realize that not only is enterprise messaging a security and compliance nightmare, but also a golden opportunity. “The company sits at the center of one of the largest untapped sources of enterprise intelligence: trusted, governed customer conversations,” he explained. “As AI reshapes how organizations operate, that foundation becomes increasingly valuable, and LeapXpert is the infrastructure layer making it actionable.”

Image: LeapXpert