Raleigh-based AI relationship-marketing firm Levitate is gearing up for a major staff surge after closing a $16 million funding round, with plans to hire more than 100 people as it scales. Company leaders say the influx of capital could push Levitate's Raleigh headcount toward roughly 300 employees while helping fill out its offices in Toronto and Wilmington. Over the past three years, Levitate reports its customer base has roughly doubled, climbing from about 4,000 to more than 8,000 clients.
In a press release via PR Newswire, Levitate said the round was led by Harbert Growth Partners and will help speed up product development and its "Service-as-Software" model. The release detailed plans to expand sales and customer-success teams across the United States and Canada to keep up with growth. Company materials describe the raise as the latest in a series that has brought Levitate's total capital to roughly $71 million.
Founder and CEO Jesse Lipson told Axios Raleigh he sees "a path to grow north of $100 million" in annual recurring revenue over the next few years, and said the fresh capital will help Levitate hire across departments. Lipson said the company especially needs customer-facing roles like sales and customer success, even as it gains efficiency in back-office functions with tools such as Cloud Code. He stressed that Levitate is not laying off back-office staff, and is instead being selective about where it adds people, focusing on areas where human interaction matters most.
Where the jobs will be
Levitate's recruiting board shows openings in Raleigh, Toronto and Wilmington, including account executive and sales-development roles that match its sales-heavy growth strategy, according to Greenhouse listings. Press materials from Levitate note the company has grown to more than 300 employees and over 8,000 customers in nine years, suggesting these new hires are meant to bolster the teams that deliver Levitate's service component. Multiple job postings show the company recruiting in both North Carolina and Canada, aligning with details in its press release and Lipson's interview.
What this means for Raleigh
Lipson told Axios Raleigh that the Triangle is "still mid-tier in terms of size," pointing to the talent squeeze that hits when local companies try to hire at scale. That helps explain why Levitate is spreading roles across several markets while keeping its home base in Raleigh. For the local tech ecosystem, a big hiring burst from a fast-growing SaaS outfit could crank up demand for sales, marketing and customer-success talent across the region.
For now, Levitate's strategy is simple enough: raise capital, build out its AI features and staff up the teams that face customers every day. The company told PR Newswire it will use the funding to speed up its AI roadmap and expand its Service-as-Software offering for relationship-driven small businesses. If Levitate reaches Lipson's revenue target, it would mark a significant commercial milestone for a Triangle-founded company that has been climbing fast in recent years.
