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§ Private Profile · Seattle, WA, USA
Varolii is a technology company.
Varolii develops and provides automated, on-demand communication software, enabling enterprises to streamline and enhance their customer interactions. The company's cloud-based platform offers a suite of tools for managing outbound communications, facilitating proactive engagement, and ensuring timely delivery of critical information across various channels. Its core capability lies in automating complex communication workflows to improve operational efficiency and customer experience.
The company originated in 1999 as AlertOnline, co-founded by Ken Pawlak, Scott Sikora, and Michael Ho. Their initial insight addressed the growing need for scalable and reliable automated notification systems. Prior to Varolii, Scott Sikora was a founding partner at Telmet, Inc., a consulting firm, bringing entrepreneurial and strategic expertise to the venture. The company later evolved through a rebranding to PAR3 Communications before becoming Varolii.
Varolii's solutions are utilized by a diverse clientele, including large organizations in healthcare and retail, who seek to optimize their customer relationship management and operational communications. The company's vision centers on empowering businesses to deliver personalized and efficient communications at scale, thereby fostering stronger customer engagement and driving improved business outcomes in a continuously connected world.
Varolii has raised $23.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Varolii has raised $23.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Varolii has raised $23.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $8.0M Series D in July 2011.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2011 | $8M Series D | — | BDC Venture Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Flex Capital, ICONIQ Capital, Menlo Ventures, Samsung Next Ventures, SLVC, SV Angel, Bill Bryant, Interwest Partners, IVP | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2002 | $15M Series C | — | BDC Venture Capital, ICONIQ Capital, Menlo Ventures | Announced |
Varolii has raised $23.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Varolii's investors include BDC Venture Capital, BlueRun Ventures, Flex Capital, ICONIQ Capital, Menlo Ventures, Samsung NEXT Ventures, SLVC, SV Angel, Bill Bryant, InterWest Partners, IVP.
Varolii was a Seattle-based technology company that developed cloud-based customer interaction management applications, enabling organizations to deliver automated outbound communications via voice, text messages, email, smartphone apps, and more to customers and employees.[1][2][6] It served large enterprises across sectors like airlines, banking, utilities, healthcare, and telecom—such as Alaska Airlines, SunTrust, Time Warner Cable, and pharmacy benefit managers—solving the problem of efficiently reaching and engaging massive audiences to reduce operational costs, boost adherence (e.g., patient enrollment and behavior influence), and improve outcomes through personalized, scalable notifications.[1][3][4] Founded in 1999, Varolii raised $40.7M before being acquired by Nuance Communications in October 2013, reaching an estimated one in five American adults annually with its platform.[1][2][4]
Varolii originated in 1999 when co-founders Ken Pawlak, Scott Sikora, and Michael Ho launched AlertOnline (later renamed PAR3 Communications) in Seattle, focusing on automated communication tools.[2] A key pivot came in 2005 with the acquisition of EnvoyWorldWide, a provider of emergency and business continuity notifications, which merged with PAR3 in 2007 to form Varolii—named after the Pons Varolii, the brain's neural pathway bridging motor control and higher cognition to symbolize smart communication relay.[2] Early traction built through high-volume deployments; by 2011, David McCann was appointed President and CEO, steering growth ahead of Nuance's 2013 acquisition that integrated Varolii's outbound capabilities with Nuance's inbound speech tech.[1][2][4]
Varolii rode the early 2000s shift to cloud-based, multi-modal customer engagement, timing perfectly with rising mobile SMS adoption and demand for proactive (outbound) service amid inbound call center overload.[1][4] Market forces like cost pressures in B2C-heavy industries (healthcare, finance, travel) favored its automated, high-volume notifications, which complemented speech recognition giants like Nuance—post-acquisition, it enhanced omnichannel platforms amid the SaaS boom.[2][4] Varolii influenced the ecosystem by pioneering personalized outbound tech, setting standards for scalable 1-to-1 communication that reached 20% of U.S. adults yearly and paved the way for modern tools in customer service automation.[1][3]
Post-2013 acquisition, Varolii's tech integrated into Nuance (later acquired by Microsoft in 2022), evolving into broader AI-driven communication within Azure ecosystems, fueling trends like hyper-personalized, conversational AI for customer service.[1][4] Next steps likely involve deeper AI enhancements for predictive engagement amid rising multichannel demands; regulatory pushes for privacy and trends in conversational commerce will shape it, amplifying Microsoft's enterprise influence while echoing Varolii's original mission of smarter, relay-like interactions at scale.[2][3]