Feature
Investors gave social media management provider Sprout Social $42 million today, bringing the six-year-old company's total funding to date to $61 million.
Investors Goldman Sachs, Merchant Banking Division and New Enterprise Associates (NEA) participated in the Series C round for the Chicago-based provider, which raised $18 million in June 2014 and $1 million in November 2010.
Social Momentum
Sprout has benefitted from the rise of social as a marketing channel. HubSpot, an inbound marketing provider in Cambridge, Mass., reported the majority of marketers (59 percent) are using social media for six hours or more each week.
Sprout officials said they will use the money to continue their "aggressive expansion" of both their products and customer base. Sprout has seen a 3,918 percent growth in revenue between 2012 and 2015 and serves more than 16,000 leading brands globally, according to company officials.
“Our team has earned a reputation for building elegant, powerful software that people love to use,” Justyn Howard, CEO and co-founder of Sprout, said in a statement. “As social becomes central to everyday business, brands require tools that are as capable as they are intuitive. Sprout meets those demands, and we’ll continue to improve every aspect of our products and business to create the most compelling social tools for our customers.”
Sprout works with more than 3,000 agencies, 8,000 small businesses and 5,000 mid-market and enterprise customers.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
May
30
ChatGPT and the Future of Conversational AI
This discussion explores various aspects of AI implementation, ethical considerations, and challenges for your organization.
Webinar
May
31
The Evolution of Employee Listening - 2023 Trends & Best Practices
Learn proven effective methods and solutions to supporting an inspirational future of Employee Voice
Webinar
Jun
1
How organizations can design, build and run Generative AI into the Customer Experience
Discover how to drive enhanced CX through Generative AI
Webinar
Jun
6
The Future of Social Media: Emerging Trends and How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
The impact of emerging technologies like AI on social media
Webinar
Jun
7
The Building Blocks of Personalization
This webinar will explore how personalization can create powerful ecommerce shopping experience.
Webinar
Jun
13
The Future of Contact Centers with AI at the Helm
Learn how to balance human intuition and interaction with the potential uses of AI to create delightful and lasting CX
Webinar
May
30
ChatGPT and the Future of Conversational AI
This discussion explores various aspects of AI implementation, ethical considerations, and challenges for your organization.
Webinar
May
31
The Evolution of Employee Listening - 2023 Trends & Best Practices
Learn proven effective methods and solutions to supporting an inspirational future of Employee Voice
“Justyn and his team have done an impressive job building this high-growth, profitable company within the social media management software market,” Jason Kreuziger, a vice president in the Merchant Banking Division of Goldman Sachs, said. He will join Sprout Social’s board of directors.
“The business performance of Sprout meets or exceeds that of best-in-class SaaS companies," Kreuziger added, "while the product’s ease of use and scalability has led to its adoption in customers ranging in size from SMBs to Fortune 500 enterprises.”
Last April, Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research named Sprout Social one of 11 significant providers in the Social Relationship Platform (SRP) space. However, it noted that Sprout Social lagged Percolate, Spredfast and Sprinklr in terms of vision, features and product strategy.
"We're at a point where businesses finally recognize the necessity of having a presence on social media, but they’re still missing the mark when it comes to meaningful engagement," Andrew Caravella, vice president of marketing at Sprout Social, said in a recent interview with CMSWire. "Although people’s expectations for social engagement continue to rise, brands are failing to respond to that demand."
