While digital transformation is accelerating rapidly, enterprises are still facing challenges like siloed communication, which often makes collaborative team efforts nearly impossible. A 2019 report by Forrester revealed that while marketing and business intelligence teams often communicate, the two groups aren’t doing so effectively because they are both often siloed. That report was three years ago, but not much has changed since then. Today, many organizations are still swimming in vast data lakes that often have silos. This can often lead down an ever-complex path to improving organizational productivity, bettering customer experience and getting incredible returns on their investments.




As the quest toward a truly digitally transformed enterprise ecosystem continues, experts note that organizations who want to drive a real digital transformation agenda must stop working in silos. To keep up with ever-evolving business demands, companies keep adding more tools to address their needs, until they can no longer keep track of the sprawl they have. This is where Israel-based productivity startup Spike — which claims it offers the “first collaborative email platform that helps teams of all sizes connect, create and collaborate to accomplish more” — wants to change things.




Cofounded by Dvir Ben Aroya (CEO) and Erez Pilosof (CTO) in 2014, Spike offers a conversational email platform that empowers teams to interact and communicate more efficiently with its prioritization and organizational features. 




Aroya told VentureBeat in an interview that Spike’s multi-platform technology was built on top of an email protocol that allows it to provide a complete messaging experience for individuals’ and teams’ business needs all in one platform.




Whether for internal or external conversations, Aroya said, email is still the most popular form of communication in the world, but the problem is that organizations are often spread across multiple tools and that impacts communication and productivity negatively. He claims that Spike’s offering helps businesses to save money, all while unifying communications into one place. It allows users to do anything right from their inboxes — including communicate, organize, plan, share notes and projects, video conference and monitor schedules.




Unifying communications is a top priority




According to Aroya, one of the most compelling trends Spike has seen across the enterprise landscape is more businesses and individuals are seeking alternatives that will unify their communication solutions. In addition, he said people are looking for a modern, natural real-time communication experience. 




For example, Aroya noted that what makes the company stand apart is its prioritized organization. Spike’s priority inbox removes distractions, enabling teams to focus and be more productive. Prioritized messages are displayed first, while less essential communications are relegated to the side to reduce clutter. With the platform’s “super search,” function, users can save time by not having to comb through threads to get the information they need. To see every file a user has ever sent someone, they simply need to click on the contact, Aroya noted, adding that Spike’s file management helps users view files without downloading them, which saves time.




Aroya further said Spike eliminates the idea of threads altogether and groups emails by contact to make it simpler to discover what users search for, showing chats as one continuous inline message between “conversation partners.”




The features of the platform work with a Spike user’s contacts even if that contact themselves is not also using Spike, but Gmail, for instance — the Spike user can still view and quickly manage files in a conversation with someone outside their organization.




Beyond an email platform




Spike’s competitors include Google Workspace and Microsoft 365 (in the email client arena) as well as Slack, Discord and others (in the messaging world), Pilosof added that Spike is more than an email platform. 




According to Pilosof, “Spike is leading the market by providing both email client experience and chat capabilities in one platform and many additional built-in tools like video meetings and calls, collaborative notes, calendar and more.”




For upcoming events, unfinished projects, or various social network channels, Pilosof said, users can also build a group chat in Spike for more effective communication. He added Spike’s unique features are why many Gen Z users are flocking to the platform, making it become famous across social networking sites.




Pilosof further said Spike also offers various customizability options, so clients can use the platform however it best suits them, adding that enterprise businesses seeking a more flexible communication channel have started customizing the platform. Brands that trust Spike include Philips, Zoom, Zillow, Sephora, Shopify, Fiverr and more. The platform offers a free version, a pro plan ($5 per user/month billed annually), a business plan ($10 per user/month billed annually) and a custom option for larger enterprises.




Aroya said Spike envisions a world in which people can conduct all their businesses and communications through a single app. Spike has raised $30 million in total funding to date, with its last funding round of $15 million, led by Insight Partners with the participation of Mozilla Corp, coming in Q3 of 2021. The company currently has a headcount of 35 and plans to double that number in the next year to support the scale and demand for its services.

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Source: VentureBeat

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