Paloma is a NYC-based commerce platform that initially turned Messenger into a sales channel and has added Instagram Sales Inbox with Messenger API support for Instagram. Led by founder and CEO Kelsey Hunter, the platform lets brands connect Instagram pages, create automated responses to understand customer needs, and route shoppers to relevant products, resources, or live agent support. Its inbox is visible and managed within Paloma and integrates with customer support tools for live agent handover. Launched in November of 2017, Paloma has become a leader in Messenger for sales and works with brands including Joybird, Lalo, M.Gemi, ThirdLove, Caraway, Thread Wallets and Framebridge. The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and accelerate product development. Paloma grew out of CallParty, a Facebook Messenger chatbot that provided users with information and tools to contact their representatives. The team repackaged that technology into end-to-end marketing software to sell to companies and nonprofits, citing much higher engagement on Messenger than email. CallParty engagement rates ranged from roughly 30–80 percent versus typical email click-throughs of 3–5 percent. Paloma’s product integrates open government data and geocoding for district IDs and supports scripted flows to qualify leads and gather user responses. The team is building a beta version now and hopes to launch in October. The founders operate out of Brooklyn neighborhoods including East Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Bed-Stuy.

Total raised

$4M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Jun 2021