In what they are calling the "largest deal ever in Canadian venture capital history for a software company", Vancouver-based HootSuite has secured US$165 million to fund its future growth, the social media giant announced Thursday.
The funding is a co-investment led by Insight Venture Partners, with Accel Partners and OMERS Ventures, a press release states.
With an international staff of over 300, the four-year-old company says it now has more than seven million users worldwide. The additional financing will expand this global reach further, accelerate innovation and provide investment in sales and marketing, the company said.
“HootSuite’s goal is to empower people and brands to reach global markets using social media – to help them connect, inform, and succeed like never before,” Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite said in the press release. “This capital gives us additional resources to expand quickly and strategically into new markets, innovate rapidly, and deliver on our vision around the world”.
Read the full press release below:
HootSuite announced today that it has secured an additional $165 million US in capital for its Series B Financing round, in order to continue meteoric growth and dominance as a social relationship platform. The latest round, representing the largest deal ever in Canadian venture capital history for a software company and one of the largest rounds of global venture capital funding, is a co-investment led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and existing investor, OMERS Ventures.
Recently celebrating its 4th birthday, HootSuite pioneered the category of social media management. Today, HootSuite has more than 7 million users in nearly every country around the world who use its secure, social relationship platform for social media management, social marketing, social customer service, and social selling.
HootSuite’s dramatic growth has been driven by increased demand among global organizations. Enterprise customers include PepsiCo, Virgin, Orange, Sony Music, Telus, HBO, WWF, UPS, Panasonic, and 237 of the Fortune 500 companies.
Over the last year, HootSuite has grown its staff from 180 to well over 300 located in Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong, London, Sydney, and others. Building on this momentum, HootSuite will use the additional financing to continue expanding its global reach, accelerate product growth and innovation, invest in additional sales and marketing resources, and continue evaluating strategic acquisition opportunities.
“HootSuite’s goal is to empower people and brands to reach global markets using social media – to help them connect, inform, and succeed like never before,” says Ryan Holmes, CEO of HootSuite. “This capital gives us additional resources to expand quickly and strategically into new markets, innovate rapidly, and deliver on our vision around the world”.
“As demonstrated by their remarkable growth and widespread adoption, HootSuite clearly leads the market in the development and delivery of a social relationship platform,” says Jeff Lieberman, Manager Director of Insight Venture Partners. “Insight’s investment will help HootSuite capitalize on the global demand for their solutions, and accelerate the company’s pace of product innovation.”
“As the first institutional investor and largest pre-IPO owner in Facebook, we have long believed in the inevitable relevance of social networks and social media at the consumer level,” says Ryan Sweeney, Managing Partner of Accel Partners. “What’s become apparent is that social channels are also becoming THE manner in which small businesses through the Fortune 500 are opting to communicate with their customers and target markets. By every metric HootSuite’s social relationship platform is powering this evolution in corporate communications, and we are thrilled to now be their partner as they continue to scale.”
“In 2012, OMERS Ventures invested in HootSuite because we believed in the integration of social media within the enterprise.” says John Ruffolo, Chief Executive Officer of OMERS Ventures. “Since then, HootSuite has shown the market that this trend is not only important, but mission critical for any company looking to be relevant. We are committed to helping the team become the dominant player in this market.”
With this investment, Jeff Leiberman, Manager Director at Insight Venture Partners, Ryan Sweeney, Managing Partner at Accel Partners, and John Ruffolo, Chief Executive Officer of OMERS Ventures have joined HootSuite’s Board of Directors. Further financial terms of this deal have not been disclosed.
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