Levitate, a Raleigh, North Carolina-based pioneer in AI-powered relationship marketing, has successfully raised $16 million in a new funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $71 million since its founding in 2017. Announced on March 5, 2026, the investment—led by Harbert Growth Partners with participation from Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bull City Venture Partners—signals strong investor confidence in Levitate’s mission to make sophisticated client engagement accessible to small, relationship-focused businesses. This capital infusion arrives at a critical juncture, as small enterprises increasingly turn to AI to maintain authentic connections amid resource constraints and rising competition.

Levitate’s Platform: Bridging AI and Human Touch

At its core, Levitate’s Happiness Platform revolutionizes how relationship-driven businesses—such as financial advisors, insurance agencies, real estate professionals, and local service providers—nurture client relationships at scale. Serving over 8,000 customers across the United States and Canada, the platform automates personalized outreach while preserving the genuine, thoughtful interactions that build loyalty. Key features include AI-assisted email and social media drafting, multilingual content translation, text messaging, survey distribution, review generation, meeting scheduling, and even handwritten card sending—all integrated with website and blog management tools.

Unlike generic mass-marketing solutions, Levitate emphasizes authenticity. Its Service-as-Software model pairs intelligent automation with dedicated success specialists who provide hands-on strategy, ensuring measurable outcomes like improved client retention and referral growth. Early innovations, such as the 2023 AI Assistant for overcoming “writer’s block,” have evolved into a robust roadmap that leverages machine learning for smarter targeting and workflow optimization. This approach addresses a persistent pain point: small businesses often lack the time or expertise for consistent follow-up, yet personalized communication drives 5-8x higher engagement rates compared to automated blasts.

Leadership Vision and Funding Utilization

Jesse Lipson, Founder and CEO of Levitate, articulated the company’s foundational philosophy: “AI should help relationship-based businesses become more consistent, more thoughtful, and more scalable in how they show up for their clients”. A serial entrepreneur with a track record from ShareFile (acquired by Citrix), Lipson launched Levitate to democratize relationship marketing, evolving it from basic CRM tools into an AI-centric powerhouse. The new funding will supercharge this vision by accelerating AI development, both internally for enhanced machine learning and externally through user-friendly features that simplify multichannel campaigns.

Proceeds will also fuel team expansion in customer success and sales, targeting broader North American markets and diverse sectors beyond finance and real estate. By scaling its hybrid model—automation plus human expertise—Levitate aims to empower tens of thousands more users, helping them achieve outcomes like 20-30% lifts in client lifetime value without proportional increases in headcount. Lipson’s emphasis on practicality underscores a maturing AI narrative: tools must deliver immediate ROI for non-technical users, not just hype.

Strategic Investors and Growth Milestones

Harbert Growth Partners’ lead role reflects the fund’s focus on high-potential SaaS plays with proven traction. Known for backing scalable enterprise software, Harbert joins repeat investors Bull City Venture Partners and Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, who recognize Levitate’s evolution from a $14 million raise in 2023 to this $16 million milestone. The cumulative $71 million war chest positions Levitate as a category leader, with prior rounds supporting product maturity and a customer base that has grown from 4,000 in 2023 to over 8,000 today.

This funding aligns with investor enthusiasm for “AI as a feature” in vertical SaaS, reminiscent of post-internet infrastructure plays that birthed giants like Salesforce and HubSpot. Levitate’s integration of large language models (LLMs) for context-aware personalization—without requiring coding—mirrors this trend, making advanced marketing viable for Main Street businesses. Industry analysts note that such platforms are poised for explosive adoption, as small businesses represent 99.9% of U.S. firms but capture only a fraction of digital marketing spend.

Implications for Small Business Marketing in the AI Era

Levitate’s raise highlights a seismic shift in the Martech landscape: AI is transitioning from enterprise luxury to small-business necessity. Traditional tools often overwhelm SMBs with complexity and cost, leading to 70% abandonment rates for marketing automation. Levitate counters this by prioritizing ease-of-use, with features like one-click review campaigns and AI-generated event invites that boost net promoter scores (NPS) by 15-25 points, per customer testimonials.

For sectors like professional services, where relationships drive 80% of revenue, the platform’s impact is profound. Financial advisors, for instance, use it to automate quarterly check-ins, while realtors leverage review tools to build social proof—freeing owners to focus on core operations. As privacy regulations tighten and ad costs rise (e.g., Google CPC up 20% YoY), owned-channel strategies like Levitate’s become essential for sustainable growth.

This move also signals consolidation potential. With $71 million in backing, Levitate could expand into adjacent verticals like healthcare or e-commerce, or partner with CRMs like HubSpot for seamless integrations. Competitors in generic automation face pressure to incorporate relationship intelligence, as SMBs demand platforms that feel human amid AI saturation.​

Broader Industry Context and Competitive Edge

The fintech and Martech intersections amplify Levitate’s relevance. While enterprise AI focuses on predictive analytics, Levitate targets the “long tail” of 33 million U.S. small businesses, where 60% still rely on spreadsheets for client management. Its 2026 timing coincides with economic recovery, where SMBs seek cost-effective scaling post-inflation—AI tools promising 3-5x efficiency gains resonate strongly.

Against peers like ActiveCampaign or Mailchimp, Levitate differentiates through its “happiness” ethos: AI augments, not replaces, personal touchpoints. Features like handwritten notes via automation blend nostalgia with tech, yielding open rates 40% above industry averages. Previous raises, including a $15 million round in 2024, validated this model, with investors like Michael Cristinziano praising its resilience in down markets.

Future Roadmap and Market Outlook

Looking ahead, Levitate’s AI roadmap promises predictive outreach—anticipating client needs via behavioral signals—and deeper analytics for ROI tracking. Expansion into Canada taps underserved markets, while sales team growth targets mid-market firms ($1-10M revenue) ripe for digital transformation. Success metrics will likely include customer acquisition cost (CAC) reductions and lifetime value (LTV) uplifts, benchmarks where Levitate already excels.

In a 2026 landscape dominated by AI efficiency narratives, Levitate exemplifies accessible innovation. As SMBs navigate labor shortages and digital mandates, platforms like this will redefine competitiveness—proving AI’s true value lies in amplifying human relationships, not automating them away.