Significant Signings

>>> Personnel Moves

Cordial, a marketing messaging platform provider, has hired Rob Garf, a senior executive with Salesforce, as its senior vice president of strategy and insights.

B2B sales platform provider Apollo.io has hired Bela Stepanova, a former executive with Box and Iterable, as its chief product officer.

Progress, a provider of digital experience and infrastructure software, has named Ed Keisling to fill the newly created chief AI officer’s position.

Artificial intelligence solutions company AnswerRocket has named consulting veterans Dan O’Keefe and Jim Johnson to head up its new Enterprise AI Consulting Division.

Pricefx has named Lindsey Sanchez as chief marketing officer and Gary Sher as chief financial officer.

k-ecommerce has hired Rich Fowler as partner channel manager.

ASAPP has appointed Priya Vijayarajendran as CEO, formalizing her leadership after she served as chief technology officer and technology president.

ChannelEngine, a marketplace integration provider, has named Bart Verschoor as its chief operating officer.

Cross-channel customer experience company Airship has named Maria Robinson as its chief marketing officer.

Sales assistant platform provider Nooks has named Hannah Wilson as its chief revenue officer.

Converge, a performance innovation agency for growth marketers, has named John Lyons, formerly of Merkle and Dentsu, as its chief performance officer.

>>> Capital Investments

Accenture Ventures, through its Project Spotlight, has invested in Aaru, providers of an artificial intelligence-powered prediction engine that simulates consumer behavior and preferences. Accenture Song intends to integrate Lumen, Aaru’s flagship model for the private sector, into its AI products and services across new product development, marketing, customer strategy, and customer service.

Venture capital firm OIF Ventures has made a multimillion-dollar investment in Trusst AI, an Australian and U.S.-based customer experience startup offering AI agents.

Auxia, a startup offering an agentic artificial intelligence customer journey orchestration platform, has collected $23.5 million in Series A and seed funding from VMG Technology Partners, MUFG Innovation Partners, Incubate Fund, Vela Partners, Stage 2 Capital, and more than 50 industry leaders.

Zocks, a startup offering client intelligence for financial advisers, has secured $13.8 million in Series A funds from Motive Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks.

Marketing technology and services provider 2X has secured a strategic secondary investment from Insight Partners. The investment now values 2X at $275 million.

Whisper, a provider of sales and behavioral cloning technology for content creators, has raised $1 million in funding from AngelList Early Stage Quant Fund and several content creators.

Uniti AI, provider of an AI agent platform for commercial real estate operators, has completed a $4 million seed round led by Prudence, Alate Partners, Flex Capital, Observer Capital, and RE Angels.