• Crowdtap

  Participated · Series B · Mar 2014

  Crowdtap operates a consumer community and platform that helps brands locate influential fans and inspire them to post promotional content across Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other channels. The company supplies brands with tools and content to introduce new products, promotions and messaging to engaged users. Crowdtap says its community-based approach keeps users more consistently engaged than single-brand sites. The startup reported it became profitable at the end of 2013 and more than tripled its monthly recurring revenue over the course of that year. It employs about 55 people and counts clients such as Verizon, P&G, Nestle, Kraft, Clorox, AT&T and Sony. The company also published a study with Ipsos Media CT and the Social Media Advertising Consortium on media consumption by 18- to 36-year-olds. Crowdtap operates a network for "Brand Influencer Communities" that aggregates influential consumers and enables brands and agencies to mobilize them for realtime research, collaboration, and word-of-mouth campaigns. The platform lets brands poll top customers, view profiles, analyze and retarget based on answers, form panels, and start discussions, and it integrates with Facebook, Twitter, and CRM channels. For members, Crowdtap offers a gamified experience where users level up, earn perks, access new products, and can donate to charities. Since launching its beta in August 2010, Crowdtappers have completed 4.6 million brand actions and the communities average nearly 400,000 actions per week; the company reports a growing member base of 150,000 Crowdtappers and added another 100,000 U.S. members after its official launch at SXSW. Brands working with Crowdtap include Old Navy, AMEX, Pinkberry, MSN, Diageo, and Bing, and the company has partnerships with agencies such as Weber Shandwick, GolinHarris, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal, and Mullen. The company said it will use the funding to ramp up hiring in its sales and engineering teams.

• Yankee Group

  Led · Equity · Apr 2010

  Yankee Group Research is a Boston-based technology research firm that produces research and data on telecommunications markets. The company focuses on analysis of the 4G marketplace and the impact of rising user demand on telecom networks. It plans to use new capital to double its research team over the next two years and to deepen its research and data portfolio. Management is conducting an executive search for a new CEO while Emily Nagle Green will move to chairman of the board later this year. Yankee Group operates across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. The company received a $10M investment from Alta Communications, its majority shareholder.

No current team members are available.