The Venture Codex

Participated · Equity · Mar 2012

Brandwatch is a social media monitoring firm that crawls over 80 million sites, including Facebook and Twitter, and turns that information into insights for businesses. Its core product targets brands and marketers with deep analytics and it is part of Twitter’s certified partner program. The company says it has 1,200 customers, including Samsung, Cisco Systems and Sony Music, and plans to grow to about 400 staff by year end. Brandwatch plans to double down on its core product, invest heavily in strategic partnerships, open more offices following a June 2015 launch in Singapore, and grow in the U.S. It is described in the article as one of the largest VC-backed SaaS companies in Europe and has recently hired a new CTO and Head of Product. Brandwatch provides a social media monitoring and analytics platform that monitors online conversations to give brands and agencies tools to analyze them and make data-driven business decisions. The platform is used by over 1,000 brands and agencies, including Whole Foods, Verizon, Whirlpool, Pepsico, British Airways, Papa John’s, and Dell. Founded in 2007 and led by CEO Giles Palmer, the company is headquartered in Brighton, UK, with offices in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, and Stuttgart. Brandwatch intends to use the newly raised funds to accelerate development of its platforms, double its product and engineering teams, and invest in physical infrastructure. It also plans to accelerate implementation of new data sources, with particular focus on emerging social platforms in Asia. Financially, the company raised $22M in this round and had previously raised $6M in 2012. Brandwatch provides social media monitoring and analytical services to help enterprises research, monitor and engage with social media. Launched in 2007 and led by CEO Giles Palmer, the company serves more than 700 global brands and agencies, including HSBC, DDB and Ipsos. Based in Brighton, UK, Brandwatch also operates in the US and Germany. The company received a £1.5m venture debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank. It intends to use the financing to expand globally and invest in product innovation. The debt complements existing equity funding the company raised in March 2012 led by Nauta Capital. Brandwatch provides social media monitoring and analytics that reads and summarizes what is being said on the web about brands, people and products against defined keywords. Customers can respond to mentions and analyze trends, campaigns and competitors. The company reports roughly 300 corporate customers, including HSBC, DDB, Ipsos and Mediacom. Founded in 2007 by CEO Giles Palmer, Brandwatch is based in Brighton, UK, and has offices in New York and Germany. The company raised $6 million from Nauta Capital and current shareholders including PR distribution company Gorkana Group. Brandwatch says it will use the funding to expand further in the US, EMEA, Latin America and Southeast Asia, and to invest in product development and hiring the right people.