ConnectWise Co-founder and former president David Bellini has invested in CrushBank, an artificial intelligence (AI) software solution designed to automate help desks and IT support services. Financial terms and dollar figures for the Round One investment were not disclosed.
CrushBank is an IT Help-Desk application that leverages IBM Watson. CrushBank uses “cognition,” the process of acquiring knowledge, to think, learn and form decisions, the company says. From there, CrushBank combines best-practice documentation with a firm’s proprietary content to provide invaluable insight. The platform's goal is to streamline help-desk operations with less escalation to Level 2 and above.
CrushBank's Mission and Business History
CrushBank's overall mission is to "enable Internal Help Desks, Managed Service Providers (MSP) and Enterprises/Corporations create a faster time to resolution, improve customer satisfaction and increase profitability by spending less time searching for answers, and more time finding solutions."
CrushBank had surfaced at some MSP-centric technology conferences ahead of the coronavirus pandemic. ChannelE2E first spotted and met the company at such events as CompTIA ChannelCon 2018, ConnectWise IT Nation 2018, DattoCon 2018 and IBM Think 2018. We're checking to see how far the company's technology and customer adoption has progressed since that time.
David Bellini, meanwhile, is well-known across the MSP and IT channel ecosystem. Working with brother Arnie Bellini, the duo spun the ConnectWise software company out of their Tampa-based IT service provider more than three decades ago. Private Equity firm Thoma Bravo acquired ConnectWise in 2019.
David Bellini Invests In CrushBank: Executive Perspectives
In a statement about the CrushBank investment, David Bellini said:
“AI is the future of business information gathering and dissemination, and CrushBank is leveraging it in a way that was previously impossible. The first of its kind, CrushBank will empower internal Help Desks, Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and enterprise/corporate users to spend far less time searching for answers and more time finding the right solutions.”
Added CrushBank President Evan Leonard:
“CrushBank grew out of our own observations, as we watched organizations expend considerable sums either hiring outside IT support teams or attempting to build and maintain one, in house. Based on the incredible response we have received, it’s evident that we hit the mark. By merging the human brain with cognitive computing, this platform is reinventing the concept of Help Desk and our investors recognize that fact.”
CrushBank: What's Next?
We'll be watching closely to see if or how CrushBank potentially competes with or partners with emerging Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software platforms such as Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, NICE and UiPath, as well as the emerging AI capabilities of ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence.
The RPA and ServiceNow offerings generally compete in the enterprise IT service management (ITSM) market, but are extending into some segments of the high-end MSP market.
