While the industry has its attention fixed on Slack Technologies Inc., several other promising team communications providers are expanding aggressively in the background.

One of them is the Boston-based Fuze Inc., known until recently as ThinkingPhones, which today announced that it has raised $104 million in new funding from Wellington Management Co. The investment giant was joined by Greenspring Associates and several of the other backers that contributed to the startup’s previous $114 million growth round last year.

While today’s cash infusion is somewhat smaller, Fuze Chief Executive Steve Kokinos stressed in an interview with Xconomy that “this was an up round” from last year’s financing. The startup hasn’t shared its valuation, but divulged in a press release that revenue jumped 90 percent during the past fiscal year on the back of some 449 customer wins.

Delivered as a cloud service, Fuze providers a minimalist messaging interface not unlike Slack’s and comes with a host of client applications for various devices. What sets the platform apart is the fact that its core chat function is paired with several other communications options that allow workers to contact peers through the most suitable channel for a given occasion. Fuze can be used to host calls and video conferences over the web as well as loop traditional desktop phones into a discussion.

On the back-end, a set of built-in analytics capabilities enables organizations to keep track of how their employees are using the platform. Fuze claims that the data provided by its service is useful for identifying areas where teams can improve their collaboration activities.

Kokinos said that one of his first priorities in the wake of today’s funding round will be bringing the platform into Latin American markets. He added that the cash infusion will likely be the last private investment that his startup takes before its public offering, which he believes is “likely” to take place sometime next year. With more than $300 million raised to date, however, Fuze is in no particular rush to hit the stock market. 

Image courtesy of Fuze