Malaysian customer conversation management platform Respond.io expects North America and Europe to become its largest combined market within the next few years after raising $62.5 million in Series B funding.
A company spokesperson told DealStreetAsia the round, led by New York-based Camber Partners, was not raised out of financial necessity but to speed up entry into developed markets where social commerce is gaining traction. “The business didn’t need capital to survive; we raised to move faster,” the spokesperson said. “We are tracking $35 million in annual recurring revenue at a 30% margin and a clear path forward.”
The company declined to disclose its valuation. Endeavor Catalyst and existing investors also participated in the funding round.
Founded in 2017, Respond.io enables businesses to manage customer conversations across WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, Messenger, Telegram, WeChat, email and voice calls through a single platform.
It serves more than 10,000 businesses in over 180 countries and processes around 2 billion messages each quarter.
Respond.io said North America and Europe are “the primary reason” it raised the round, adding that the two regions are underpenetrated compared with its presence in APAC, Latin America, and MENA.
“We expect North America and Europe to become our largest combined segment within the next couple of years,” the spokesperson said, while declining to share specific revenue or customer targets.
The proceeds will also support mergers and acquisitions.
“Two types of targets disclosed for now: bolt-on technology that fits the existing platform, and established teams with strong customer bases in the targeted regions that compress our market entry timeline,” the spokesperson said.
Chief executive and co-founder Gerardo Salandra said the company had built its business profitably across emerging markets before seeking fresh capital.
“We built respond.io over nine years across markets most competitors never entered and did it profitably,” Salandra said.
Camber Partners founder and partner Scott Irwin said the investor was attracted by respond.io’s profitability and its AI capabilities for managing high-volume customer conversations.
“Respond.io spent nine years building the infrastructure for high consideration, AI-native customer conversations – and they did it profitably in diverse markets,” Irwin said.
The funding comes as startup fundraising in Southeast Asia rebounded sharply in May as the return of megadeals more than doubled the capital raised, compared with the previous month, although investment activity remained below year-ago levels.
According to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia, privately held companies in the region raised $472.1 million across 31 equity deals in May. The amount was 104.3% higher than the $231.1 million raised across 33 deals in April, but 18% lower than the $576.1 million raised across 45 deals in May 2025. Malaysia raised only $2 million from one deal last month.
