Fin Names Ex-Twilio Exec Evan Cummack as CEO, Secures $20M Funding

Fin Secures $20 Million in Series A Funding, Appoints New CEO

Fin, a work insights platform, has successfully closed a $20 million Series A funding round. Concurrently, the company has welcomed Evan Cummack, previously of Twilio, as its new chief executive officer.

Enhancing Enterprise Team Productivity

Based in San Francisco, Fin specializes in capturing employee workflow data from a variety of applications. This data is then transformed into actionable productivity insights, designed to optimize how enterprise teams function and maintain high levels of engagement.

The company’s origins trace back to 2015, founded by Andrew Kortina, a co-founder of Venmo, and Sam Lessin, formerly VP of product at Facebook and a partner at Slow Ventures. Initially, Fin explored voice assistant technology – a human and machine learning-powered alternative to platforms like Alexa – before shifting its focus to workplace analytics software in 2020.

Funding Allocation and Strategic Shift

The latest funding round was spearheaded by Coatue, with significant participation from First Round Capital, Accel, and Kleiner Perkins. Cummack explained that the capital infusion will primarily be used to expand the company’s sales, marketing, and engineering divisions.

“Recognizing the need for growth, a fundraising effort was initiated late last year,” Cummack stated in an interview with TechCrunch. “Alongside this, a decision was made to bring in a leadership team with proven experience in building enterprise-level businesses.” The company also underwent a rebranding, removing “Analytics” from its name to better reflect its broader capabilities.

How Fin Delivers Value

Fin’s software is engineered to measure productivity and deliver insights that empower managers to refine processes, provide targeted employee coaching, and gain a clear understanding of how teams utilize technology to accomplish their work. Employees, in turn, can effectively manage their workflows and pinpoint potential bottlenecks.

This integrated approach ultimately leads to improved operational efficiency and enhanced customer experiences, according to Cummack.

The Future of Work and Automation

Fin anticipates a “renaissance of human work” as automation becomes increasingly prevalent. The company believes this will result in both an increase in the number of jobs and a diversification of job types, allowing individuals to perform their roles more effectively and with greater fulfillment.

Cummack highlighted the shift in the software landscape, noting that before cloud computing, a limited number of vendors dominated the market. Now, the average tech company utilizes over 130 SaaS applications, fostering entrepreneurship and enabling the adoption of specialized, best-in-breed solutions.

Understanding Enterprise Tech Investment

“However, enterprise customers often struggle to fully understand the return on their technology investments,” Cummack added. “There’s significant pressure to enhance the customer experience and accelerate innovation. With the rise of remote work, Fin provides a unified view of all 130 applications, revealing how they are being used.”

Demonstrated Results and Growth

Fin’s customers have reported substantial improvements, including a 16% increase in team utilization and engagement, a 25% reduction in support ticket resolution times, and a 71% improvement in policy compliance. The company itself is experiencing rapid growth, with customer base and revenue doubling or tripling annually.

With a strengthened leadership team and increased resources, Cummack is confident that Fin is well-positioned for continued scaling, building upon an already established and successful business.

Investor Perspective

Arielle Zuckerberg, a partner at Coatue, shared that her firm had previously invested in Fin’s seed round to support the development of a virtual assistant. She was also a prior user of the Fin Assistant before its discontinuation.

Zuckerberg expressed excitement about the company’s pivot to the enterprise market, viewing it as a logical extension of its previous work and recognizing its significant potential. She also held a high regard for the existing management team.

The Pandemic as a Catalyst

The core of Fin’s innovation, according to Zuckerberg, has always centered on understanding and measuring the actions of assistants to identify opportunities for improvement or automation. The transition to agent-facing tools made strategic sense, but the global pandemic truly underscored its value.

“The sudden shift to remote work left companies with limited visibility into employee activities,” she explained. “In this new environment, Fin’s product proved invaluable in addressing the challenges of managing remote support teams. Furthermore, its unique data set on application usage can help leaders shape the future of work for their teams.”

Focus on Service Teams and Process Mining

Coatue now positions Fin as a process mining company specifically focused on service teams. By initially targeting the customer support and contact center space – a market large enough to sustain a standalone business – rather than competing for Fortune 500 clients with lengthy implementation cycles, Fin can deliver immediate value and address the unique challenges of remote team management.