Front (HX14) Raises $66M Series B with Sequoia and DFJ

Front, the shared inbox for customer-driven teams, is raising a new $66M series B, with Sequoia (Bryan Schreier) and DFJ (Josh Stein) to accelerate growth for its collaborative customer communication platform. Front (eF14, YC S14) was the first eFounders-backed company to make it to the prestigious Y-Combinator program.

From Paris to the Valley

The adventure started in 2013, co-founders Mathilde Collin and Laurent Perrin joined eFounders to launch Front. Back then the vision was simple: building a shared inbox for teams to collaborate on the stream of incoming messages from customers. The same way Slack profoundly changed internal messaging, Front would shift customer messaging from a fragmented and frustrating experience to a more personal, meaningful exchange.

Focused on centralizing email, Front quickly expanded to include all external communication channels from social and chat to SMS and calls. On a mission to help customer-driven teams achieve excellence in care and support, the team applied to Y-Combinator at the start of 2014.

A Success Story

Having been accepted at Y-Combinator’s 2014 Summer Batch, the team left to SF… And relocated permanently in the Bay where they grew their network of partners, advisors, and investors. 2014 also marks Front’s first round of funding: a $3 million Seed Round led by SoftTech VC’s (now Uncork Capital) Jeff Clavier, often cited as the top seed investor in the valley. In 2016, Front hits a new milestone: a $10 million Series A. Leading the round, once more, are outstanding partners: with Social Capital investing alongside prominent investors such as Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, Intercom CEO Eoghan McCabe, and Index Ventures general partner Ilya Fushman.

The team laid its roots in the most competitive, exciting, and (a tad) eccentric ecosystem on the planet: building a team of 50 in SF’s bustling Mission district. Above all, we are truly humbled by the vision, passion, and sheer hard work that went into making all of it possible.

Laurent, co-founder and CTO, pulled off what seemed at the time an impossible feat: building a robust email client that could match the standard of traditional email clients while adding a layer of collaboration. Not only that, he successfully implemented the infrastructure to scale the business to where it is today, with hundreds of thousands of daily incoming messages on the platform.

Mathilde, co-founder and CEO, has succeeded brilliantly at building an amazing team dedicated to making Front’s clients happy. Small confession: we check their app ratings from time to time to cheer ourselves up when the going gets tough, and their Glassdoor rating is a model for any company launched at eFounders (and probably for most companies…).

What’s Next for Front

As they announce a new round of funding, the Front team have their eyes set on bold objectives: building more, deeper integrations with 3rd party apps and streamlining the company decision making process with every new conversation. Having built the first shared email client and grown it into a hub for collaboration across teams, the road ahead is exciting and bold for Mathilde Collin, Laurent Perrin, and the entire team!

Want to join eFounders and help us build the future of work? Check out our current openings!