B2B customer support today is fragmented and inefficient. Sending an email about a technical issue often feels like tossing a message into the void. Chatbots promise real-time responses but force users out of their workflows, while support teams are overloaded by their inflexible ticketing systems, making it difficult for them to provide a seamless, high-quality customer experience.

At the same time, over the last decade, workplace communication has undergone a massive shift. Real-time messaging apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord have emerged in many workplaces as preferred communication platforms and, sometimes, replacements for email. This shift has extended beyond internal teams with the introduction of shared channels, which enable seamless collaboration between businesses and their customers, an opportunity to rethink their customer support motion.

As we dove into this space, we discovered that businesses supporting their customers via these shared channels are able to foster multiple champions within an account. This leads to accelerated implementation cycles, enhanced product adoption, and reduced customer churn. But, while using shared channels is beneficial, it also comes with three critical tradeoffs: 1) these platforms are not built to manage the sheer volume of support tickets they can generate, 2) there is no easy way to leverage AI when delivering support over these channels, and 3) shared channels add yet another platform that support teams need to manage.

That’s when we met Plain*.

Founded by Simon Rohrbach and Mathias Vagni, we feel Plain is pioneering a fundamental shift in how B2B customer support is delivered. The team has built a unified platform that not only streamlines customer support processes but enables the right teams (e.g., engineering, product, sales) to address the right issues, in our view. Plain has empowered customer support to be a conduit between customer and vendor rather than a bottlenecked ticketing system, helping B2B business build a collaborative, relationship-driven experience.

In our view, the company’s traction speaks for itself. Startups like Sanity, Laravel, Stytch, and Raycast trust Plain to power their customer interactions. By meeting users where they already work, whether it’s in-app or Slack or email, Plain is transforming support into an integrated and effortless experience – all powered by AI.

At Battery, we’re always looking for exceptional founders who are rethinking foundational problems. We believe the Plain team is not just incrementally improving B2B support; they’re redefining it. Their product-first approach, focus on collaboration, and deep understanding of modern workflows resonated strongly with us.

That’s why we’re thrilled to lead a $15M Series A investment into Plain and support the company’s mission to build the future of customer experience. We believe that customer support should feel like a conversation, not a transaction—and Plain is making that vision a reality.

If you’re looking to level up your B2B support, check out Plain!