AUSTIN, Texas. June 1, 2016 – Spredfast, the leading independent social marketing software provider, today announced a $50 million growth equity round led by new investor, Riverwood Capital, and joined by previous investors Austin Ventures, Interwest Partners, OpenView Venture Partners, and Lead Edge Capital. RBC Capital Markets acted as exclusive placement agent for the financing. During the past year, Spredfast grew its subscription customer base by 76 percent, and has seen revenue growth at a CAGR of 130 percent since 2011- yet another sign that social continues to deliver tremendous value and business results. This round will be used to expand Spredfast’s connected ecosystem of best-in-class tools, massively innovate and go deep in social care, brand marketing, and media solutions, and to continue to deliver the highest-rated customer experience and support in the industry.
According to Jeff Parks, founding partner at Riverwood Capital, “There’s a tremendous amount of value that exists in social today. Spredfast is helping businesses find that value and apply it to their larger business goals. We want to be a part of the company’s unstoppable innovation and vision for the future of connected data.”
Social is at the heart of every business today. Marketers are striving to be bold, memorable, and authentically connected with the people they care about the most.
“Today, brands need to stay ahead of the industry’s rapid pace of innovation. To win big and keep up with the changes, they are asking us for an open and connected platform that gives them the flexibility to integrate with their preferred technologies, build their own marketing stacks, and gain a full view of the customer journey across all digital touchpoints,” said Rod Favaron, CEO of Spredfast. “To deliver this, we’re focused on continuous innovation in the areas where we specialize, and, where we don’t, we’re connecting with other best-in-class tools.”
Spredfast integrates with more than 50 partners, including all major social networks and industry favorites like Actiance, Kenshoo, Google Analytics, Opal,Bitly, and all major listening tools. Spredfast’s suite of modules is the only connected, truly SaaS social platform built on a single, multi-tenant code base in the industry. As a result, Spredfast rolls out feature updates and new products to its entire customer base as they are available, giving its customers the freedom and advantage to leverage new capabilities in real time.
Customers and Partners React
“Spredfast has been a great partner and collaborator with Facebook for more than five years, helping companies get the most out of our platform and providing instrumental support for our partner programs.” — Blake Chandlee, VP of Global Partnerships, Facebook
“At Viacom Velocity, we pride ourselves on putting fans at the center of everything we do. This means creating content and experiences that resonate and drive our relationship with them forward. The best way to do this is to truly understand their interests, motivations and behaviors. Spredfast has been a strategic technology partner for us in developing Viacom’s industry-leading social analytics dashboard, the Echo Social Graph, which allows us to do just this. With this tool we can measure the entire social conversation around our campaigns thereby fueling our understanding of our fans.” — Lydia Daly, SVP, Viacom Velocity
“At Hyundai, we need partners that understand the complexities of the ever changing social and digital ecosystem, and allow us to stay one step ahead. For us, this isn’t a nice to have, it’s an imperative. We’re laser-focused on building quality content, scalable communities, and trusted measurement. Spredfast’s partnership, combined with their world-class software, has been critical to helping us scale social across all of our US dealerships.” — Jon Budd, Senior Group Manager of New Media, Hyundai
“Whirlpool believes in creating purposeful innovation and superior products based on consumer needs. In partnership with Spredfast, we are constantly gathering insights on digital and social that help drive incredible value for our consumers. Spredfast’s technology has been an essential tool in our efforts to deliver outstanding value, continuous innovation, and extraordinary experiences for our connected consumers.” — Ekta Tandon, Digital Strategist & Social Media Manager, Whirlpool Corporation
Company Milestones & Growth
Since merging with Mass Relevance in 2014 and acquiring Shoutlet in 2015, Spredfast has more than doubled in size. Today, Spredfast employs more than 500 people in 5 global offices, supporting more than 650 customers, including Target, Bank of America, ITV, Airbnb, and NBC Universal.
Spredfast:
Spredfast has brought on board respected industry leaders to support the company’s rapid expansion. New executives include:
Eric Anderson, Chief Revenue Officer – Eric Anderson has more than 22 years’ experience managing sales in high growth software companies. His addition to the Spredfast team will enable the company to continue to meet mounting demand for its smart social platform.
Melissa Fruge, Chief Legal Officer – Melissa Fruge has tremendous experience helping disruptive technology companies chart their legal course. In joining Spredfast, she will help the business continue to navigate the complexities disruptive technologies companies face every day.
Tim Collin, General Manager of EMEA – Tim Collin is the former managing director for Marin Software. He brings more than 25 years’ experience leading dynamic technology businesses through intense growth phases, including successful exits and IPOs.
Leo Ryan, VP of Customer Success, EMEA – Leo Ryan joins Spredfast from Ogilvy. He will bring tremendous experience in creating impactful social marketing campaigns to Spredfast’s growing EMEA customer base.
Contact
Spredfast
Courtney White, 512-599-1676
Eastwick
Ryan Mattison, 415-820-4484