Retention Science has raised $7 million to help businesses keep customers

To help marketers understand and generate additional business from existing customers, WaJao Inc., better known as Retention Science, raised $7 million in Series A funding, Venture Capital Dispatch has learned. Chief Executive Jerry Jao, a Retention Science co-founder, said Upfront Ventures led the investment joined by his company’s earlier backers–Baroda Ventures, Forerunner Ventures and Mohr Davidow Ventures–and angel investors. According to a Retention Science study of 163 e-commerce companies in English-language markets, 67% of an online seller’s revenue comes from 32% of its existing, or returning customers. Yet a majority of spending by marketers, even beyond e-commerce, goes towards customer acquisition and “growth hacking,” Mr. Jao says. That means companies have been willing to spend on drumming up new business but haven’t realized the “revenue goldmine” of keeping existing customers happy.