TrendKite operates a PR analytics platform that analyzes about 4.2 million articles every day to help brands and agencies measure the impact of earned media, identify total audience reach, and surface the most influential articles. The company counts customers such as Mondeléz International, Nike and Delta. Revenue has grown by more than 100% year-over-year. TrendKite says the new funding will be used for additional product development with the goal of making PR software as indispensable to the CMO as CRM or marketing automation. CEO Erik Huddleston argued that earned media remains powerful for product influence and said TrendKite’s role may grow as identifying the right publications and journalists becomes more complex in a partisan media environment. TrendKite provides PR analytics that show which articles drive brand awareness, total audience reach, sentiment of coverage, and how much share of the discussion a company controls versus competitors. The product is aimed at integrating PR measurement into broader marketing decision‑making. The company reports annual recurring revenue has grown to tens of millions of dollars. TrendKite counts customers including Nike, Campbell’s Soup, Hershey’s, Asana and Squarespace. Management says proceeds will be used to continue the company’s growth and to more tightly integrate PR into the rest of marketing. The company positions PR as the earned‑media leg of an integrated marketing strategy. TrendKite offers comprehensive PR software that measures and analyzes the effectiveness of public relations across multiple channels, using big-data technologies to move beyond traditional media monitoring. The platform serves over 400 brands, including Nike, Hershey, Pinterest, the Memphis Grizzlies, Mondelez International and Asana. The company reports consistent revenue growth, saying it doubles revenue every four to five months, and has grown its team by over 300% in the last year. TrendKite currently has 70 employees and plans to double its headcount within six months. The company recently relocated to a downtown Austin office four times the size of its previous space to accommodate growth and is accelerating its product/IP roadmap. TrendKite won a 2015 IMPACT award for "Solution of the Year." TrendKite provides PR analytics that help brands and agencies measure the effectiveness and ROI of their PR spend. The company has built an ontological representation of the "PR universe" to capture semantics and relevance of coverage. Its semantic approach is designed to surface which articles are most relevant to specific targets and clients. TrendKite works with more than 100 brands, including Campbell’s Soup, Pinterest and the Centers for Disease Control. The company has seen triple‑digit revenue growth — not just quarter‑over‑quarter but almost month‑over‑month — and headcount has grown from six to 35. TrendKite plans to use new funding for further product development and to double or triple headcount by the end of the year. TrendKite offers PR analytics and measurement tools designed to help brands and agencies quantify the impact of earned media. Its product features custom dashboards that track popular articles, mentions by top influencers, sentiment, and share of voice versus competitors. The platform also provides email news alerts and shareable PDF reports. The company recently recruited Erik Huddleston, former CTO and EVP of product at Dachis Group, as CEO; the founders remain involved as chief product officer, president, and CTO. TrendKite raised $3.2M in a Series A round led by Mercury Fund and Silverton Partners, following a $1.2M raise last fall. The new funding will be used to expand the company’s data infrastructure and grow its sales team.

Total raised

$47M

Funding rounds

6

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Dec 2017