MarTech Minute: Google brings Meet to Gmail, Lucid raises $52 million

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MEET YOU ON GMAIL. Google is upping its video conferencing capabilities. Last week, the company announced business and education users on gmail.com will be able to directly take calls using the Google Meet video conferencing tool. The Meet integration with Gmail is the first of several features being launched ahead of schedule, according to Reuters. Google VP Javier Soltero said the rush to launch was due to the recent spike in demand for video conferencing tools.

Why we care: With everyone transitioning to remote workspaces, Zoom quickly became the darling among video conferencing tools. Zooms user numbers jumped from ten million in December to more than 200 million last month. But the significant uptick also revealed the platform’s security flaws — multiple meetings have been “Zoombombed” by bad actors in recent weeks. Google’s Meet comes with security features already built into the platform, offering an added level of protection against hackers. Also, its Gmail integration makes starting a meeting all that much easier since users are already “in” the platform via their email accounts. Add the coming features — new on-screen layout showing up to 16 participants and improved video quality with filtering features to eliminate background noise — and Meet may become the new darling of video conferencing tools.

A REMOTE WORKSPACE, BUT MAKE IT VISUAL. Web-based visual design platform Lucid Software just raised another $52 million in funding. This is on top of the $114 million it received in 2018. The company said it plans to use the latest influx of cash to “double down” on LucidChart, a Microsoft Visio-style collaborative diagramming app. Design teams use the platform for wireframing, whiteboard, UI prototyping and other similar projects. Lucid said it also may pursue merger and acquisition deals.

Why we care: As more and more teams move to work-from-home offices, platforms like Lucidchart that enable collaborative work environments will only gain more ground. The fact that investors are showing up to put their money behind these tools is proof-positive that the industry is trending toward remote working conditions, at least for now. Whether or not this trend will continue post the pandemic is anyone’s guess, but Lucid’s CEO Karl Sun told VentureBeat he believes most companies are going to find out that “insight and agility” are paramount during this time — a revelation that he thinks will only raise demand for platforms like his.