DETROIT ? Gamification company LevelEleven has netted another $2 million in funding from SalesForce.Com, along with some previous investors, bringing total raised for the startup to $3.5 million.
Other participating include Detroit Venture Partners, Hyde Park Venture Partners and angel investor David Fry, founder of Ann Arbor Fry Multimedia. Long-time technology entrepreneur and investor, Rick Inatome, participated in the previous $1.5 million round.
This new round of funding also includes the first ever investment from Mashburn Justice Capital Partners – a new firm launched by former NBA star Jamal Mashburn and current NFL player Winston Justice.
The new financing will be used to scale the LevelEleven team to meet rising demand from customers, increase sales and marketing efforts, and further product development. This fall, LevelEleven will be introducing a new mobile app, as well as unveiling strategic integration with top cloud computing providers.
Recent product enhancements now available for LevelEleven’s flagship gamification platform Compete, include: real-time feedback when completing a key sales behaviors, a new user interface for the competition builder, leaderboards with more powerful creative, real-time ?breaking news? bursts for LeaderTV, and a new month-to-month pricing model.
?We?ve seen LevelEleven?s progression over the past year from a small startup in Detroit to successful company with a nationwide presence,? said Mashburn. ?Given our athletic backgrounds, Both Winston and I understand the motivational element inherent in competition. We believe that same competitive fire that drives us as professional athletes can be applied to the business world in order to motivate sales teams, so the decision to invest in LevelEleven was an easy one.?
LevelEleven currently has more than 85 customers, including Comcast, Delta Airlines, OpenTable, Stanley Black & Decker and Concur, among others.
?This latest investment further validates the great traction we are seeing in the market and our vision around using competition and gamification techniques to motivate salespeople,? said LevelEleven Founder and CEO Bob Marsh. ?Getting the support of both new investors and having the continued support from local Detroit investors enables us to maintain our aggressive growth track, which has seen us triple our customer base in the past 10 months.?
