Today’s mainstream online ad application was yesterday’s start up venture, funded by the usual sources. MarketingVOX will regularly take a look at some of these firms tapping the venture capital markets to see what may be in the offing for marketers eager to try out the latest tech solutions.
Targeting Daily Deal Offers By Time, Inventory, Weather
ThinkNear turns mobile ads into hyper-targeted daily deal offers for local merchants. The startup just launched in New York City, the Washington Post reports, after raising $1.63 million in a series A round. ThinkNear’s application lets merchants better time their offers to match their inventory, expected slow times, even the expected weather of the day of the offer. Potential customers nearby are then shown relevant offers as part of the typical mobile banner ads they are served on their phones.
RTB for Facebook
Nanigans, a creator of a real-time bidding platform for Facebook, has raised $3 million in a first round of funding, Venture Beat reports. The company has also inked a deal with Electronic Arts’ Playfish social game division to be its exclusive Facebook ad tech partner. Avalon Ventures led the round. Nanigans will use the money to hire more people and expand its ad engine platform, Venture Beat says.
Social Ecommerce Via the SaaS Model
BigCommerce has raised $15million in series A funding from General Catalyst Partners. Launched in 2009, BigCommerce provides e-commerce software to online retailers and merchants via SaaS, according to TechCrunch. Features include multi-channel retailing, automated email marketing, inventory control, an online storefront, as well as an application for merchants to list inventory on Facebook.
Web Identity Gets a Boost
Janrain raised $15.5 million in new funding led by Emergence Capital Partners and including Anthem Venture Partners, DFJ Frontier and RPM Ventures, All Things D says. A Web identity management provider, Janrain can be found on 350,000 websites, including those made with Ning, KickApps and Get Satisfaction.
Social Complaints Courtesy the Company
Social CRM company Get Satisfaction raised $10 million in a second funding round led by InterWest Partners. The company’s online community customer-service platform lets brands create online communities where customers can post questions, comments, and complaints that the whole community can read. It also allows companies to monitor mentions of their brand on Twitter. (via Venture Beat).
