Can AI finally scale personal client relationships? Levitate just raised $16m to try

Levitate, the Raleigh-based developer of an artificial intelligence-driven relationship marketing platform, has raised $16 million in a new funding round led by Harbert Growth Partners with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bull City Venture Partners. The investment brings Levitate’s total capital raised to $71 million since its founding in 2017. The company plans to deploy the new capital to accelerate product development, expand its customer-facing AI capabilities, and grow its sales and customer success teams across the United States and Canada. The funding reflects growing investor interest in AI tools designed to help small businesses maintain personal client relationships while operating at scale.

Levitate operates in a segment that has quietly become one of the most competitive corners of the business software market. Relationship-driven industries such as financial advisory services, real estate, legal practices, insurance agencies, nonprofit organizations, and healthcare providers increasingly rely on digital platforms to maintain communication with clients, donors, and referral partners. However, many small businesses struggle to replicate the personalized communication that traditionally defined these sectors once their customer bases begin to scale.

Levitate’s core proposition is that artificial intelligence can automate communication workflows without removing the human tone that relationship-based businesses rely on to maintain trust.

Why are investors increasingly backing AI platforms focused on relationship-driven small businesses?

Investor enthusiasm for companies like Levitate reflects a broader shift in how software investors view the small-business technology market. Historically, software targeting small and mid-sized businesses emphasized operational efficiency such as accounting, payroll management, or project tracking. Today the focus has shifted toward customer engagement and retention.

Relationship-based industries remain heavily dependent on referrals, repeat interactions, and trust-driven communication. Yet maintaining regular contact with hundreds or thousands of clients manually is impractical for most small teams. Levitate’s platform attempts to solve this problem through automated outreach tools that allow businesses to send personalized emails, social media messages, texts, surveys, and reminders while maintaining contextual knowledge about each contact.

The investment round signals confidence that artificial intelligence can transform relationship marketing from a labor-intensive process into a scalable digital workflow. Venture investors increasingly view this category as a natural extension of customer relationship management platforms, with artificial intelligence acting as the automation layer that transforms passive contact databases into active engagement engines.

For investors such as Harbert Growth Partners and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, the opportunity lies in the large and fragmented small-business market where digital adoption remains uneven but demand for automation continues to grow.

How does Levitate’s Service-as-Software model change traditional marketing automation?

One of Levitate’s distinguishing strategies is what the company calls its Service-as-Software model. Unlike traditional marketing automation platforms that focus solely on providing software tools, Levitate pairs its platform with hands-on strategy support and coaching for customers.

This hybrid model attempts to address a persistent challenge in the small-business technology sector. Many small organizations purchase marketing software but lack the internal expertise to use it effectively. By providing both the platform and strategic guidance, Levitate positions itself as an operational partner rather than just a software vendor.

The platform allows users to manage multiple outreach channels from a single system. Businesses can send personalized email campaigns, automate text message reminders, generate online reviews, publish social media content, and track client engagement patterns. The software also records contextual details about contacts, allowing companies to remember important personal information such as birthdays, referral sources, or past interactions.

From a strategic standpoint, this approach aligns with a growing industry trend in which software providers combine automation with advisory services. The model reflects a recognition that technology adoption alone does not guarantee measurable outcomes for small businesses.

Why relationship marketing remains a powerful competitive advantage in service industries

Despite the rapid expansion of digital marketing channels, relationship marketing remains one of the most effective drivers of growth in service-oriented industries. Many small businesses generate the majority of their revenue through referrals and repeat clients rather than through large-scale advertising campaigns.

This dynamic creates a challenge. As businesses grow, maintaining consistent personal communication becomes increasingly difficult. Messages become less frequent, relationships weaken, and referral pipelines gradually decline.

Artificial intelligence tools such as those developed by Levitate attempt to solve this problem by identifying the right time and context for outreach. By analyzing engagement patterns and contact history, the platform can suggest messages, reminders, and follow-ups designed to maintain ongoing connections.

The approach effectively turns relationship management into a systematic process rather than a purely human-driven activity.

However, the effectiveness of this model depends on a delicate balance. Over-automation can undermine authenticity if communication begins to feel scripted or generic. Companies that successfully integrate automation while preserving genuine personalization may gain a significant competitive advantage.

How Levitate’s healthcare expansion signals a broader vertical strategy

Levitate has already begun extending its platform beyond traditional service industries into healthcare. In 2025, the company announced that its platform had attested to meeting the requirements of the United States Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act security rule, enabling it to support healthcare providers such as dental and chiropractic practices.

Healthcare represents a particularly attractive vertical for relationship-driven communication tools. Patient retention, appointment reminders, and personalized follow-ups are critical components of practice growth. At the same time, regulatory complexity has historically limited the adoption of marketing automation platforms in healthcare settings.

By aligning its platform with compliance frameworks, Levitate has positioned itself to enter a sector where patient engagement increasingly resembles customer engagement in retail and hospitality industries.

Healthcare providers face mounting pressure to deliver personalized communication while managing administrative workloads and regulatory requirements. Automated outreach tools that remain compliant with privacy regulations could therefore become an important operational resource.

What competitive pressures could shape Levitate’s next phase of growth?

The relationship marketing technology sector is becoming increasingly crowded as software companies incorporate artificial intelligence into their communication platforms.

Customer relationship management providers, email marketing platforms, and social media automation tools are all expanding their capabilities with AI-driven messaging, predictive analytics, and automated campaign generation. Large enterprise software vendors are also moving downmarket to target small businesses with simplified versions of their platforms.

Levitate’s competitive advantage lies in its focus on relationship-driven industries rather than broad marketing automation. By designing workflows specifically for industries that depend heavily on trust and referrals, the company attempts to differentiate itself from general-purpose platforms.

However, maintaining that advantage will require continuous product innovation and a strong customer support infrastructure. Small businesses often prioritize ease of use and reliability over feature complexity, making customer experience a critical factor in long-term retention.

The newly raised capital will likely be directed toward strengthening both technology capabilities and customer support resources, two areas that can determine whether a software platform becomes a long-term operational partner or just another marketing tool.

What does this funding round signal about the future of AI-powered client engagement?

Levitate’s latest funding round illustrates a broader shift in how artificial intelligence is being applied across the business software ecosystem. While early waves of AI adoption focused heavily on data analytics and automation of internal workflows, newer platforms increasingly focus on external communication and relationship management.

Artificial intelligence is beginning to act as an intermediary between companies and their clients, helping determine when to communicate, what to say, and how to personalize messaging.

For small businesses, this shift could dramatically change how customer relationships are managed. Instead of relying on sporadic manual outreach, companies could maintain continuous engagement with clients through automated yet personalized interactions.

For the broader software market, platforms that successfully integrate automation with human-centered communication may become the next generation of relationship management infrastructure.

Levitate’s expansion strategy suggests that the company sees relationship marketing not as a niche category but as a foundational layer of business communication across multiple industries.

What are the key takeaways on what Levitate’s $16M funding means for the AI relationship marketing market?

• Levitate’s $16 million funding round brings total capital raised to $71 million and provides new resources to accelerate its artificial intelligence product roadmap.

• Investors are increasingly backing AI platforms focused on small-business communication and relationship marketing workflows.

• Levitate’s Service-as-Software model blends technology with strategic support, addressing a common adoption challenge among small businesses.

• Relationship-driven industries such as financial services, real estate, legal practices, and nonprofits represent a large addressable market for AI communication tools.

• The company’s expansion into healthcare highlights the potential for AI relationship marketing platforms in regulated industries where patient engagement is critical.

• Competition is intensifying as marketing automation providers and customer relationship management vendors add artificial intelligence capabilities.

• Levitate’s focus on relationship-centric workflows rather than generic marketing automation may help differentiate it from larger platforms.

• Continued growth will depend on maintaining authenticity in automated communication while scaling personalization through artificial intelligence.

• The funding round signals broader investor confidence that AI-driven communication platforms will become core infrastructure for small-business client engagement.