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§ Private Profile · Northport, NY, USA
Hark is a technology company.
Hark Systems delivers an energy management software platform specifically for commercial and industrial buildings. This Software as a Service (SaaS) solution leverages the Internet of Things (IoT) to provide comprehensive energy analytics. It enables businesses to monitor, analyze, and optimize consumption across their various assets and equipment, leading to improved operational efficiency and reduced energy waste.
Jordan Appleson founded Hark Systems in 2016, driven by the insight that advanced technology could significantly enhance global energy efficiency. He identified a market need for granular visibility into energy usage, moving beyond conventional monitoring methods. This vision aimed to provide organizations with precise, data-driven insights to make smarter decisions about their energy footprint.
Hark Systems targets commercial and industrial enterprises seeking to improve sustainability and reduce costs through superior energy management. The company’s vision is to transform how these sectors manage their energy resources, fostering a future where consumption is consistently optimized. By providing actionable data and intuitive controls, Hark strives to build a more efficient global energy infrastructure.
Hark has raised $14.5M across 4 funding rounds.
Hark has raised $14.5M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Hark has raised $14.5M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Hark's investors include Oceans Ventures, 7wire Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Converge Venture Partners, Defy Partners, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Inventus Capital Partners, Investus Capital Partners, Mighty Capital, MizMaa Ventures.
Hark has raised $14.5M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $3.5M Seed in June 2024.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2024 | $3.5M Seed | Oceans Ventures | — | Announced |
| Feb 1, 2024 | $4M Seed | — | 7wire Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Converge Venture Partners, Defy Partners, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Inventus Capital Partners, Investus Capital Partners, Mighty Capital, MizMaa Ventures, Oceans, StageOne Ventures, The General Partnership, TWO Ravens VC | Announced |
| Aug 1, 2022 | $2M Seed | — | 7wire Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Bowery Capital, Converge Venture Partners, Jenny Fielding, Scott Hartley, Everywhere Ventures (The Fund), Glade Brook Capital Partners, Inventus Capital Partners, Investus Capital Partners, Lightbank, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Oceans, RiverPark Ventures, TWO Ravens VC, Andy Rankin, David Dubick | Announced |
| Oct 1, 2007 | $5M Series A | — | — | Announced |
Hark is a technology company building an AI-driven voice-of-customer (VoC) platform that integrates video and audio feedback to enhance customer communications, sentiment analysis, and support resolution.[3][5][6] Founded in 2021 or 2022 by Fran Brzyski and Matt Ring, it serves direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands like Hexclad, Branch Furniture, Ouai Beauty, Fab Fit Fun, and Ooni, solving the problem of outdated text-based feedback systems that lead to incomplete data, slow resolutions, and customer churn.[3][4][6] The platform uses AI to categorize data, reduce manual analysis time by 40%, improve resolution time by 79% (saving 92 hours for teams), and boost customer satisfaction (CSAT) by 20%, enabling brands to build loyalty through customer-generated content.[3][5]
Hark recently raised a $3.5M seed round, with total funding under $5M, and operates from Northport, New York, with a tech stack including Cloudflare, Kubernetes, and HubSpot.[3][5] This positions it as a portfolio company focused on efficient growth in customer experience (CX) amid rising AI adoption.
Hark was founded in 2021 (or 2022 per some sources) by Fran Brzyski (Co-Founder/CEO) and Matt (Matthew) Ring, both bringing expertise in sales, customer experience, and venture advising.[3][4][6] Brzyski's decade-plus in sales and CX highlighted the flaws in legacy feedback methods—like plain text forms, chatbots, and email chains—reminiscent of outdated systems from the Blockbuster era, which fail to capture authentic customer voices and lead to inefficiencies.[3][6]
The idea emerged from a need to make customers "feel heard" without live interactions while giving brands actionable insights at scale.[6] Early traction came via partnerships with D2C brands, demonstrating measurable wins like faster resolutions and higher CSAT, culminating in the $3.5M seed round led by investors including Converge VC.[3] This funding validates their pivot to AI-powered VoC for the modern era.
Hark rides the AI-era transformation of customer experience (CX), where voice-of-customer programs shift from surveys to real-time, multimodal data amid exploding D2C growth and personalization demands.[3] Timing is ideal as AI tools mature for sentiment analysis and automation, countering market forces like rising churn (from poor feedback loops) and brand reputation risks in a post-pandemic e-commerce boom.[3][6]
By enabling faster feedback loops and efficiencies, Hark influences the ecosystem, empowering brands to boost lifetime value (LTV) and agility—key in competitive sectors like consumer goods. Investors like Converge VC see it addressing a "major issue" with "front-line technology and human understanding," amplifying its role in democratizing advanced CX analytics.[3]
Hark is poised to expand its AI VoC platform, targeting more D2C and enterprise brands as AI integration deepens in CX workflows.[3][6] Trends like generative AI for deeper insights, regulatory pushes for transparent customer data, and hybrid support models (video/audio + automation) will shape its path, potentially scaling via acquisitions or platform extensions.[3]
Its influence may evolve from niche innovator to CX standard-setter, especially if it sustains 20-40% efficiency gains across larger clients. Backed by VCs and proven metrics, Hark exemplifies how AI reinvents customer connections—turning feedback from a chore into a loyalty engine, much like it set out to fix Blockbuster-era gaps.[3][6]