Institutional Venture Partners Leads Financing As Facebook Marketing Sector Matures
New York, NY, October 19, 2010 -- Buddy Media, the Facebook management system of choice for seven of the ten world’s largest advertisers, today announced it has raised $23 million in Series C funding to fuel its continued growth. Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), which has funded many of the best known digital brands like Netflix, Twitter and Zynga, led the new round and was joined by existing Buddy Media investors, including Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners and Bay Partners.
The Buddy Media investment is the first by IVP in its latest fund, a $750 million later-stage venture capital and growth equity fund announced in August 2010. The expansion capital will be used to triple Buddy Media’s employee headcount to 300 in the next 18 months, as well as fund other marketing and growth initiatives.
In addition to the financing, Buddy Media announced several important milestones:
* The company now employs more than 100 people in its new 25,000 square foot offices in mid-town Manhattan
* More than 300 companies and agencies license the Buddy Media Platform, up from less than 100 earlier this year
* 7 of the top 10 largest global advertisers have selected the Buddy Media Platform as their preferred Facebook management system
* New customers signed in Q3 2010 include Johnson & Johnson, Crate & Barrel, Ford Motor Company, Donna Karan, Armani Exchange & GNC
* The company has grown software licensing revenue by approximately fifteen percent (15%) month-over-month in 2010
Buddy Media’s Facebook management system, The Buddy Media Platform, is web-based marketing software that provides companies global scale, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools to connect with their current and future customers using the power of Facebook’s 550-million strong and growing social network.
Steve Harrick, General Partner at IVP, joined the Buddy Media Board of Directors and said, “Buddy Media’s first mover advantage, superior offering and experienced management team are all reasons for their exponential growth and for our investment in the company. In the same way major brands and agencies have invested in web-based software for sales or display advertising, they are now investing in marketing software for the largest two-way communications platform of all time: Facebook. We looked at every company in the space and Buddy Media is the clear leader by a wide margin.”
Forrester Research predicts that social media marketing spend on platforms such as Facebook will reach $3.1 billion by 2014, eclipsing both email and mobile.
Michael Lazerow, Chairman and CEO of Buddy Media, said, “The power and scale of Facebook is truly unrivaled, and we’re eager to continue delivering best in class solutions to our clients, through the support of our industry’s best known and well respected investors. Our clients have seen firsthand the power of Facebook, and with this expansion capital, we can grow our operations more quickly in order to meet accelerating demand.”
About Buddy Media
The Buddy Media Platform is the Facebook management system of choice for the world’s largest brands and agencies. With its scalable, secure architecture and straightforward administrative tools, the Buddy Media Platform revolutionizes the way brands connect with their current and future customers using the power of Facebook’s social connections. The Buddy Media Platform offers the only solution that allows brands to launch, maintain and measure their Facebook presence in any country and in any language. The Buddy Media Platform is the enterprise Facebook management system of choice for the largest brands in the world, including Anheuser Busch, Procter & Gamble, Starwood, Delta, Southwest Airlines, Unilever, Samsung, L’Oreal, the National Hockey League and others. Based in New York, Buddy Media shares four investors with Facebook and was one of the first companies selected by Facebook as a preferred developer partner. The company is backed by Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Softbank Capital, European Founders Fund, Greycroft Partners, Facebook investor Ron Conway, Facebook board member Peter Thiel, Zynga founder and CEO Mark Pincus, Roger Ehrenberg, Howard Lindzon and others. For more information, visit http://www.buddymedia.com.
About Institutional Venture Partners (IVP)
With $3 billion of committed capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) is one of the premier later-stage venture capital and growth equity firms in the United States. The partnership is currently investing IVP XIII, a $750 million later-stage fund focused on investments in rapidly growing technology and digital media companies. Founded in 1980, IVP has invested in over 300 companies, 85 of which have gone public. IVP has a 30 year IRR of 43.2% and is one of the top performing firms in the industry. IVP specializes in venture growth investments, industry rollups, founder liquidity transactions and select public market investments. Since its inception, IVP investments include such notable companies as ArcSight (ARST), Aspect Communications (ASPT), At Road (ARDI), Business.com (RHD), Clarify (CLFY), ComScore (SCOR), Concur Technologies (CNQR), Danger (MSFT), Digital River (DRIV), Form Factor (FORM), Foundry Networks (FDRY), HomeAway, Juniper Networks (JNPR), Kayak, LSI Corporation (LSI), Mobile 365 (SY), MySQL (ORCL), Netflix (NFLX), Polycom (PLCM), Quigo (TWX), Seagate (STX), Synchronoss (SNCR), Tivo (TIVO), Twitter, Websense (WBSN) and Zynga. For more information, visit http://www.ivp.com or follow IVP on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ivp.
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