CXsphere, a startup in the permission-based ecommerce ecosystem space, had gained initial success with the launch of its first Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven customer engagement product. It had several clients and was generating recurring revenues. AI driven data analytics was a new industry and CXsphere had a unique business model: It leveraged AI on the demand side, providing customer insights to major consumer product firms. It leveraged big data systems on the supply side, offering permission-based opportunity to individual consumers to monetize their social media, e-commerce and other digital footprint. CXsphere had raised a bridge round of funding and hoped to be cash positive and to have raised Series A funding in the coming years. To successfully raise funding at the desired price, CXspere needed to take on several major challenges. These included (1) rapidly growing its business, (2) setting CXsphere on the path to becoming a global brand, (3) continuing with its strategy of frugal innovation, (4) staying ahead of its key competitors by more effectively (4a) getting consent from consumers to use their data and how to do this at scale, (4b) providing better AI-based customer engagement / personalization services in a cheaper and faster way, and (4c) growing its ecosystem and connecting more individual consumers to more brands and firms.