Big data firm Lattice Engines raises $20m

Under the terms of the investment, New Enterprise Associates general partner Peter Sonsini will become a director of the firm. Participation in the funding also came from Sequoia Capital, who previously invested $15m in a Series B round of funding in July 2011.

Lattice’s analytics platform prompts sales representatives with clues from internal data — such as customer relationship management or support systems — as well as outside sources such as news outlets and social networks.

Last month, Lattice announced its expansion internationally with the acquisition of Black Atoms, a Beijing big data and analytics technology company, for an undisclosed amount.

“Our extraordinary growth over the past year is due to our unique ability to make the promise of big data tangible for business leaders,” said Shashi Upadhyay, chairman and CEO of Lattice Engines (pictured). “Lattice takes companies beyond the hype to see how applying big data techniques to internal, external and social data can improve sales performance by 40% and higher.”