Time Warner Investments, the corporate venturing fund representing media conglomerate Time Warner, led a $12m series B round for US-based social TV analytics firm Bluefin Labs on Tuesday.
Softbank Capital, the venture capital (VC) firm affiliated with Japan-based conglomerate the Softbank Group, joined Time Warner as a new investor in the round, while VC firm Redpoint Ventures and VC fund Lerer Ventures made contributions as return investors.
Redpoint previously led in Bluefin’s $6m series A round in 2010, which also saw participation from investment fund Acadia Woods Partners. Acadia Woods also participated in the 2009 seed round which saw Lerer enter as an investor along with VC firm Kepha Partners as Bluefin raised $1.2m.
Founded in 2008, Bluefin’s service combines large scale analytics with cognitive science techniques to monitor feedback from a variety of social media sources, measuring and mapping viewer reaction to TV shows and adverts in real-time. The information can then be used by advertisers to link their products with shows that will provide the best synergy.
Bluefin plans to invest the latest funding in growing sales and enhancing its client side service efforts, while continuing to finance research and development of its technology base.
Alongside the funding, Rachel Lam, group managing director of Time Warner Investments, will be joining Bluefin’s board of directors.
Lam said: "Bluefin Labs has created an innovative analytics platform that captures how people respond to television in real-time. There are meaningful implications for the television and advertising industries as companies learn to leverage social media and big data for competitive advantage. We are looking forward to scaling this service further and continuing the transformation of how the industry understands consumer engagement with shows, brands, and commercials on TV."