Yahoo! Japan has led a $27m series C round of funding in BrightTag, a US marketing technology platform company, after selecting BrightTag’s newly patented Fuse technology to power its data management platform (DMP). Other investors in the round included Baird Capital, EPIC Ventures, I2A, Pritzker Group Venture Capital and TomorrowVentures. BrightTag will use the funds to accelerate development of its technology and grow its sales efforts in Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the US.
While brands have access to big data through their websites, mobile apps, social media channels, call centres and brick-and-mortar locations, most lack the ability to use that data in real-time to deliver more relevant, impactful marketing.
“Today’s marketers are struggling to have more relevant conversations with their customers across different touch points,” said Osamu Aranami, Corporate Officer, Head of Marketing Solutions Company, Yahoo! Japan. “We’re excited to be working with BrightTag to enable marketers in Japan to unlock more value from their data and execute highly relevant campaigns that are immediately responsive to customers’ interests and behaviours, both online and offline.”
Since the inception of the company, BrightTag has said that it has achieved 300+ percent year-over-year growth every year and is on pace to do so again in 2014. Its technology facilitates billions of requests around the globe, supporting brands that generate more than $1.5 trillion in commerce, including Allstate, Crate & Barrel, DeVry University, GAP, JetBlue Airways, Macy’s, 1-800-Flowers, and Starwood Hotels and Resorts, to name a few.
“Our expanded strategic partnership with Yahoo! JAPAN, our added funding and our new patent are all important milestones for BrightTag,” said Marc Kiven, Founder and Chief Revenue Officer, BrightTag. “We’re gratified by Yahoo! JAPAN’s confidence in our technology and vision for creating the infrastructure for the next 20 years of marketing in Japan.”
In April 2012 BrightTag closed a $15m round of financing led by Baird Venture Partners alongside existing investors New World Ventures, TomorrowVentures, EPIC Ventures, I2A and Silicon Valley Bank. At the time of that round the company was achieving 12x year-over-year growth in 2011 and was already gaining pace to reach triple-digit growth in 2012. The round was raised to accelerate development of its technology platform and expand the company’s sales efforts in the US and overseas.
In August 2011 the company raised an additional $5m from its previous series A round, bringing total funding to $8m. The round was led by New World Ventures, which was joined by previous investors TomorrowVentures, EPIC Ventures and the I2A Fund. The additional was raised to accelerate the company’s sales and support teams and efforts to support its enterprise clients across hundreds of websites globally.
In August 2010 the company raised an undisclosed amount of capital in a series A round co-led by TomorrowVentures and New World Ventures. Other investors in that round included Epic Ventures and the I2A Fund.