Typeface services provider Monotype is set to acquire US-based visual marketing software provider Olapic in a $130m deal that will provide an exit to consumer goods manufacturer Unilever.
Olapic’s Earned Content Platform enables companies to find, curate and utilise user-generated images and videos as part of their brands’ e-commerce marketing activities. It will operate as a division of Monotype after the close of the acquisition, expected to take place in the current quarter.
The company has raised $21m in venture funding, including $15m in a June 2015 series B round that included Unilever’s corporate venturing arm, Unilever Ventures, as well as Felix Capital, Fung Capital, Longworth Venture Partners, Jose Marin Investments and angel investors Michael Lazerow and Fabrice Grinda.
Fung Capital, a venture capital fund affiliated with supply chain services firm Li & Fung, had already led Olapic’s $5m series A round in 2013, investing together with Longworth, Great Oaks Venture Capital and Scout Ventures.
Online fashion retailers Warby Parker and Bonobos had taken part in Olapuc’s $1m seed round the year before, alongside Great Oaks Brad Harrison Ventures and the Columbia University-affiliated Lang Fund.
Scott Landers, president and CEO of Monotype, said: “Our value has always been predicated on type, technology and expertise, and Olapic strengthens us on all three fronts. Whether an ‘asset’ is type, branded emoji or chat, and now user-generated content, they all serve a similar purpose, which is to elevate a brand’s identity both online and offline.
“We also offer technology and expertise that maximises the use and value of all of these assets to address customers’ most critical brand needs – whether defining brands or engaging with consumers in new, impactful ways.”