A new norm for consumer involvement has emerged as a result of the pandemic. Face-to-face interactions have decreased as a result of various lockdowns around the world, while online interactions have increased. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than in the rise of ecommerce, a long-term trend that was hastened by COVID-19.
Online sales in Australia increased by 55 percent in December 2020 compared to the same month last year, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. As a result of these transformations, businesses must create new, relevant, and successful ways to connect with customers who are adjusting their expectations at the same time.
Customers may now have what they want when they want, and in the way, they want it thanks to technological advancements. Customers’ demand for immediate satisfaction has led businesses to be available and on-demand 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Meanwhile, Practice Ignition, an Australia-based client engagement, and commerce platform has raised $50M(£37M) in a Series C funding round. The round was led by JMI Equity and existing investors Tiger Global, EVP, and a number of additional strategic angel investors and family office groups joined JMI in this round of funding.
The funds will be used to expand Practice Ignition’s main major markets in Asia, North America, and EMEA through improved development, marketing, and sales capabilities. The funds will also be utilised to further the company’s presence in the United States through strategic relationships with Gusto, Intuit, and Thompson Reuters.
This comes at a time when the company claims that it has seen immense growth, nearly doubling the amount of income generated by clients through the platform in 2021. The company further claims that it will grow significantly in 2022 and beyond, with thousands of consumers across six markets and over $2B in client revenue under control. Over one million clients have used the platform to date, with nearly 6.5M payment transactions conducted globally and a 106 percent increase in payment volumes in the United States year over year.
Practice Ignition Future Plans
The Series C funding comes after Practice Ignition has announced a range of product innovation and growth initiatives. Gusto and the company recently announced a partnership to accelerate the adoption and understanding of People Advisory services. It also announced intentions to establish a new R&D team in Toronto, which will assist the company’s innovation and customer expansion goals in North America.
Guy Pearson, CEO and co-founder of Practice Ignition, stated that the company is preparing for a significant shift as the global professional services industry faces increasing pressure to digitise operations and customer interactions in light of COVID-19, which has accelerated global digital transformation.
Through its all-in-one client engagement & commerce solution, Practice Ignition is on a mission to transform the way the professional services industry does business with its customers. Its one-of-a-kind platform streamlines service-based commerce by integrating digital proposals, payments, and automated processes with top business tools like Gusto, Xero, Quickbooks, and Zapier.
Guy Pearson, an accounting entrepreneur, and Dane Thomas, a product designer, established Practice Ignition in 2013 after becoming upset with old manual processes and late payments from clients.
With operations in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand, Practice Ignition supports over 300,000 monthly customer interactions valued at over $1B globally.
