Attentive

Attentive sells a text message and email marketing platform that consumer brands and retailers use to collect subscriber sign ups and send personalized campaigns. The company was founded in 2016 in New York by Brian Long and Andrew Jones, who had previously built TapCommerce, a mobile advertising company Twitter acquired for roughly $100 million. Ethan Lo, an early TapCommerce employee, joined as chief technology officer. The team first tested a workplace messaging product called Franklin before pivoting to SMS marketing. Early customers included Sephora, Urban Outfitters and Coach, and the company says it now serves more than 8,000 businesses.

Attentive launched publicly in February 2018 with a $13 million Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures, with Eniac Ventures and NextView Ventures participating; Scott Friend of Bain Capital Ventures joined the board. In August 2019 Sequoia Capital led a $40 million Series B, joined by new investors IVP and High Alpha. A $70 million Series C co-led by Sequoia and IVP followed in January 2020, and in April 2020 Sequoia Capital Global Equities and Coatue led a $40 million extension of that round. In September 2020 Coatue led a $230 million Series D at a $2.2 billion valuation. A $470 million Series E followed in 2021, led by Tiger Global Management and Coatue according to Contrary Research, which estimated the post money valuation at $7 billion. The company also lists D1 Capital and Base10 among its investors.

Attentive remains private. It prepared for a 2024 public listing but pushed back the timing in late 2023, when it was described as nearing profitability. Amit Jhawar, the former Venmo chief executive who had been president since 2021, became CEO in June 2023, and the founders moved out of operating roles. The company announced in January 2025 that annual recurring revenue passed $500 million in 2024, after roughly $200 million in revenue in 2022. Contrary Research reported secondary market marks in 2025 between $2.7 billion and $5.8 billion, below the 2021 estimate.

Attentive shows how quickly a repeat founding team can move from seed to growth capital: it went from a $13 million Series A to a $470 million Series E in about three years, with Sequoia and Coatue each leading or co-leading multiple rounds. It also illustrates the cost of raising at 2021 prices. Revenue more than doubled after the Series E, yet later secondary marks sat below the last primary round, and the postponed IPO has left early backers such as Bain Capital Ventures, Eniac and NextView without a liquidity event nearly a decade after their first checks.