Crossing Minds delivers perceptive recommendations using on-site actions and without personal identifiable information (PII)

Crossing Minds, the smartest and most efficient recommendation platform for business, is announcing a $10M Series A financing round led by Radical Ventures with additional participation from returning investor Index Ventures as well as Partech and Lerer Hippeau. Crossing Minds will use the round to accelerate product innovations, expand the customer base, and grow the team from hubs in San Francisco and Paris.

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Content and commerce are exploding online — in 2020, global online content consumption doubled while global e-commerce grew more than 24 percent to $4.3 trillion. This rapid expansion has left consumers overwhelmed by decision fatigue and businesses struggling to stand out. And as third-party cookies are phased out and consumer data privacy laws become more strict, businesses need to find new ways to personalize customer interactions and build stronger connections — all while respecting personal identifiable information (PII).

“With growing pressures online to elevate experiences while also maintaining privacy, businesses need to be attuned to their customers in a radically new way,” said Alexandre Robicquet, Crossing Minds co-founder and CEO. “At Crossing Minds, we believe recommendation is the next frontier for online engagement and discovery. We’ve built a solution that can be quickly and easily implemented, customized for a business’s unique needs, and provide authentic experiences without compromising on customer privacy.”

Crossing Minds was co-founded and built by world-renowned artificial intelligence pioneers Alexandre Robicquet (CEO) and Emile Contal (CTO) alongside adviser Sebastian Thrun. The team originally launched the platform in 2018 at TechCrunch’s Disrupt Battlefield as a consumer-focused app called Hai, which provided users with entertainment recommendations like books, music, shows, video games and restaurants. In the years since the team has continued to evolve the capabilities of the platform and pivot to a business-to-business focus. Because the platform was originally conceived as a consumer product, it is unique in its ability to solve the “cold start” problem for businesses: instantly delivering accurate recommendations using only on-site actions and without PII.

“I am really excited about Crossing Minds and what the team has already accomplished. I love the idea of using AI to make the online shopping experience more delightful for customers,” said Sebastian Thrun, co-founder of Crossing Minds. “Crossing Minds has amazing people, technology, and a thriving business. I believe they will change the face of e-commerce for generations to come.”

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“The Crossing Minds team has found a way to help businesses simultaneously improve customer engagement while maintaining data compliance with their fast, efficient AI technology,” said Tomi Poutanen of Radical Ventures. Tomi is a partner with the AI-focused venture fund and joins the board of Crossing Minds. “Because their platform can quickly deliver accurate recommendations after only a small handful of on-site actions and without PII, businesses can engage on a deeper level with even first-time website visitors.”

“As seed investors in many of the leading DTC and digital media brands, we’re acutely aware of the need to cater to consumers with a personalized, digital-first experience,” said Joe Medved, Partner at Lerer Hippeau. “Crossing Minds leverages deep learning to automate personalization within the boundaries of a post-cookie world, optimizing the modern consumption experience with incredible efficiency across digital touchpoints.”

Crossing Minds is already being utilized by companies including Penguin Random House, Danone, and Inkbox. The easy-to-integrate platform requires no costly or time-consuming upkeep and can be customized to meet the unique needs of any business.

Inkbox, the leading direct-to-consumer tattoo brand and Crossing Minds customer since February 2021, saw a 250% increase in email click-through rates, 348% increase in adds to cart, 677% increase in checkouts, and a 440% increase in conversion rates among recurring users with recommendations powered by Crossing Minds. Additionally, Inkbox saw a 68.6% increase in on-site conversions for brand new users — addressing the “cold start” problem for the business.

“By integrating Crossing Minds into our website and e-commerce store, we’ve seen a huge gain for our business – from click-through rates to sales to revenue,” said Tyler Handley, CEO of Inkbox. “Crossing Minds’ technology has been more impactful than any other solution we’ve used in improving our customer experience and driving conversion on our site. The Crossing Minds team continues to listen to our needs and help us elevate our brand, and we’re grateful for the partnership.”

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