Eli Finkelstein wasn't planning on raising new capital for Constructor, a startup that develops AI-powered search and product discovery technology for enterprise e-commerce companies such as Bonobos and Sephora.
But he continues to have regular conversations with investors, and at a recent meeting, Rajeev Dam, a partner at Sapphire Ventures, asked Finkelstein if he would be willing to discuss his business with the firm.
Constructor CEO and co-founder Finkelstein said he told Damm that the company didn't have a formal presentation deck, but it did have materials that the company's sales team used to pitch the company to potential customers.
“He asked me if I wanted to go ahead and do it using our sales deck and slides from our last board meeting, and I thought why not? I'm not very good at pitching to investors and hadn't done it in years, so I thought it would probably be good practice and I'd get some good feedback,” Finkelstein told Business Insider.
“But then I woke up the next morning to find an investment offer and term sheet in my inbox.”
Sapphire led Constructor's $25 million Series B, with participation from existing investor Silversmith Capital Partners, which valued the company at $550 million.
E-commerce companies can use Constructor's technology to provide search results based on customers' browsing history, create personalized product recommendations, landing pages and quizzes, and even integrate Constructor's AI shopping assistant.
“We believe that having AI at the core of our system from the beginning has played a huge role in the success we've been able to provide to our clients, but we also believe there is always room to serve our clients even better, which is why we want to use this investment primarily in that direction,” Finkelstein said in a press release about the funding, adding that the company plans to use the money to expand its capabilities and expand into new geographies.
Check out the sales presentation he gave to Sapphire Ventures.
