CleverTap was founded by Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi in 2013 to help brands understand users and improve customer engagement.
Discover how Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi built CleverTap from a mobile engagement platform into a global customer engagement SaaS company.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Quick Facts
| Founder | Role | Founded | Headquarters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain, Suresh Kondamudi | Co-founders, Thomas is Chairman & CEO, Jain is Co-founder & CPO, Kondamudi is Co-founder & CTO | 2013 | Mountain View, California, USA |
CleverTap was founded in 2013 by Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi. The company started in Mumbai and later established its headquarters in Mountain View, California. CleverTap Inc42
Introduction
CleverTap is a customer engagement SaaS company that helps brands understand users, personalize experiences and improve customer retention. Its platform combines customer data, analytics, personalization, campaign automation and AI. Today, CleverTap serves more than 2,000 brands across industries such as e-commerce, fintech, media and consumer services. CleverTap CleverTap
The CleverTap Story
CleverTap began in May 2013 when its founders saw a clear problem in mobile marketing. Many tools could send messages to users, but brands first needed to understand who their users were and how they behaved. The founders built CleverTap around this idea, combining user data and engagement in one platform. CleverTap
The company initially focused on mobile analytics and engagement. It helped brands track user actions, divide users into groups and send targeted campaigns. Over time, CleverTap expanded its platform to support a wider customer lifecycle, including onboarding, engagement, retention and monetization. CleverTap Documentation Inc42
This broader focus helped CleverTap move beyond basic marketing automation. The company built tools for real-time analytics, personalization and campaign orchestration. It also developed TesseractDB, a database designed for large-scale customer engagement and retention use cases. CleverTap
CleverTap has also grown through acquisitions. In 2022, it acquired Leanplum, a customer engagement platform that strengthened its presence in North America and Europe. In 2025, CleverTap acquired rehook.ai, adding promotions and loyalty capabilities to its platform. CleverTap CleverTap
Business Model
CleverTap follows a subscription-based enterprise SaaS model. Brands use its platform to manage customer data, campaigns, personalization and retention.
| Product Area | Primary Value |
|---|---|
| Customer Data & Analytics | Understand user behavior and customer journeys |
| Segmentation | Group users based on behavior and profile data |
| Personalization | Create relevant experiences for individual users |
| Campaign Orchestration | Run automated campaigns across multiple channels |
| CleverAI | Use AI for insights, decisions and personalization |
| Promotions | Manage rewards, offers and loyalty programs |
The platform supports channels such as push notifications, email, WhatsApp, SMS, in-app messaging and web messaging. It also uses AI to help brands make faster decisions and create more personalized customer journeys. CleverTap CleverTap
CleverTap also launched Promos in 2025. The platform helps brands manage coupons, cashback, loyalty points, vouchers and gamified rewards within the customer engagement system. CleverTap
Funding History
| Round | Date | Amount | Key Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | 2014 | $1.6M | Accel and others Inc42 |
| Series A | 2015 | $8M | Accel, Peak XV Partners Inc42 |
| Undisclosed | 2017 | $6M | Peak XV Partners and others Inc42 |
| Series B | 2019 | $26M | Peak XV Partners, Tiger Global, Accel Inc42 |
| Series C | 2019 | $35M | Peak XV Partners and others Inc42 |
| Series D | 2022 | $105M | CDPQ, IIFL AMC, Tiger Global, Peak XV Partners CleverTap |
CleverTap has raised more than $181 million across seven disclosed funding rounds. Inc42 Its latest major round was a $105 million Series D in 2022, led by CDPQ. The round valued the company at approximately $775 million. Inc42 CleverTap
CleverTap vs Competitors
CleverTap competes with customer engagement platforms such as MoEngage, Braze and WebEngage. Its main strength is the combination of customer data, analytics, personalization and engagement in one platform. CleverTap has also built its own data infrastructure and added AI, promotions and loyalty tools, giving brands more ways to manage the customer lifecycle from one system. CleverTap CleverTap
Key Takeaways
- CleverTap was founded in 2013 by Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi. CleverTap
- The company grew from mobile analytics into a broader customer engagement platform. Inc42
- Its platform combines analytics, personalization, automation, AI and customer data. CleverTap
- CleverTap has raised more than $181 million across seven funding rounds. Inc42
- Its 2022 Series D valued the company at approximately $775 million. Inc42
FAQs
Who founded CleverTap?
CleverTap was founded in 2013 by Sunil Thomas, Anand Jain and Suresh Kondamudi.
What does CleverTap do?
CleverTap provides customer engagement software that helps brands understand users, personalize experiences and improve customer retention.
When was CleverTap founded?
CleverTap was founded in May 2013 and began with a focus on mobile user engagement and analytics.
How much funding has CleverTap raised?
CleverTap has raised more than $181 million across seven disclosed funding rounds.
What was CleverTap’s latest major funding round?
Its latest major funding round was a $105 million Series D announced in August 2022. CDPQ led the round, with participation from IIFL AMC, Tiger Global and Peak XV Partners.
What is CleverTap’s latest reported valuation?
CleverTap’s last reported valuation was approximately $775 million following its 2022 Series D.
© The Founder Nation | Written by TFN Research Desk
