Key Takeaways
- Levitate raised $16 million in a new venture round led by Harbert Growth Partners, with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bull City Venture Partners, bringing total capital raised to $71 million.
- The Raleigh, NC-based company now serves more than 8,000 businesses across sectors including financial services, insurance, real estate, and legal.
- Funds will be directed toward accelerating AI product development, expanding the Service-as-Software model, and growing sales and customer success teams across the United States and Canada.
- Founded in 2017 by former ShareFile creator Jesse Lipson, Levitate has completed five funding rounds since inception, growing from a $6M seed to a $71M cumulative raise.
Quick Recap
Levitate, the AI-powered relationship marketing platform headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, officially announced on March 5, 2026, that it has closed a $16 million funding round. The round was led by returning investor Harbert Growth Partners, with continued backing from Bull City Venture Partners and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures. The announcement was made via an official press release distributed through PR Newswire and amplified across SaaS and fintech news outlets.
AI Innovation and Expansion Plans
This latest round builds on Levitate’s strong fundraising momentum. The company previously raised $15 million in a Series D round in August 2024, which brought total capital to $55 million at the time. Before that, a $14 million Series C in 2023 had funded the initial rollout of its AI Assistant feature and brought total fundraising to $40 million.
The $16 million will be deployed across three core priorities:
- AI Innovation Roadmap: Levitate plans to build new internal AI capabilities and customer-facing tools designed to help small businesses execute relationship marketing at scale. The company’s AI Assistant already powers email writing, social media content, blog creation, and multilingual translations.
- Service-as-Software Model: Rather than offering pure self-serve SaaS, Levitate combines intelligent automation with hands-on marketing strategy delivered through dedicated success specialists. This hybrid approach is central to its differentiation.
- Geographic and Team Expansion: The company will grow its customer success and sales teams across the U.S. and Canada to serve a broader range of relationship-focused small businesses.
Levitate’s platform offers a comprehensive suite that includes tailored email campaigns, social media management, SMS communication, surveys, event invitations, review management, meeting scheduling, handwritten cards, and website/blog tools. Starting at $349 per month, the platform targets relationship-driven verticals such as financial advisors, insurance agencies, accounting firms, law practices, and real estate professionals.
CEO Jesse Lipson stated: “Our original thesis was simple: AI should help relationship-based businesses become more consistent, more thoughtful, and more scalable in how they show up for their clients”.
SMB Marketing Automation Boom
The timing of this raise is noteworthy. The small business marketing automation space has attracted significant investor attention over the past several years, driven by post-pandemic digital adoption and the rapid integration of generative AI into business workflows. According to industry analysis, only about 30% of small businesses currently use CRM systems, leaving a massive untapped market.
Levitate occupies a distinct niche. Unlike broad-spectrum platforms such as HubSpot or Salesforce that target enterprises and mid-market companies, Levitate focuses exclusively on relationship-based small businesses that depend on personal, repeat client interactions. Its “keep-in-touch” marketing philosophy, combined with dedicated coaching, sets it apart from self-serve tools that require users to build campaigns independently.
The company has grown its customer base from approximately 4,000 businesses in 2023 to over 8,000 in 2026, effectively doubling its footprint in three years. With total capital now at $71 million and a clear vertical focus, Levitate appears well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for AI-driven, personalized marketing tools among small business owners.
Competitive Landscape
To contextualize Levitate’s position, the table below compares it against two competitors of comparable scale and focus: ActiveCampaign (a CRM and marketing automation platform for SMBs) and Keap (formerly Infusionsoft, a small business sales and marketing automation tool).
| Feature / Metric | Levitate | ActiveCampaign | Keap (Infusionsoft) |
| Founded | 2017 | 2003 | 2001 |
| Headquarters | Raleigh, NC | Chicago, IL | Chandler, AZ |
| Total Funding Raised | $71M | ~$360M | ~$160M (acquired by Thryv in 2024) |
| Target Segment | Relationship-based small businesses (finance, insurance, legal, real estate) | Small-to-mid-sized businesses across verticals | Small businesses seeking CRM + automation |
| AI Capabilities | AI Assistant for content creation, email writing, blog generation, multilingual support | AI-powered automations, predictive sending, conditional routing | Basic automation workflows, limited native AI |
| Service Model | Service-as-Software (dedicated success specialist + platform) | Self-serve SaaS with partner ecosystem | Self-serve SaaS with onboarding support |
| Starting Price | $349/month | $15/month | $299/month |
| Customer Base | 8,000+ businesses | 145,000+ customers | 180,000+ (pre-acquisition) |
| Key Differentiator | Personalized coaching + AI for relationship marketing | Deep automation with 500+ workflow recipes | All-in-one CRM + e-commerce for SMBs |
Levitate leads in the personalized service category through its unique Service-as-Software model, which bundles human marketing strategy with platform automation, a combination that ActiveCampaign and Keap do not offer at the same depth. However, ActiveCampaign remains far more cost-effective for high-volume users seeking self-serve automation at scale, with entry pricing at $15/month compared to Levitate’s $349/month starting point.
TechnoTrenz’s Takeaway
I think this $16 million raise is a quietly significant move in the SMB marketing space. In my experience covering SaaS funding rounds, the companies that tend to build durable businesses are those solving a specific pain point for a well-defined audience rather than trying to be everything to everyone. Levitate fits that profile perfectly. It is not competing head-to-head with the HubSpots or Salesforces of the world. Instead, it owns the “relationship marketing” lane for small, client-facing businesses.
What makes me particularly bullish on this raise is the Service-as-Software angle. Most marketing platforms hand you the tools and leave you to figure things out. Levitate pairs the platform with a dedicated success specialist who actually helps build and execute the strategy. For a financial advisor or insurance agent who barely has time to return calls, that is a meaningful value proposition. I generally prefer companies that charge a premium and deliver tangible outcomes over those that race to the bottom on pricing.
