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WibiData Raises $5M From NEA And Eric Schmidt

Posted at Techchrunch, Exclusive: WibiData, the big data management startup co-founded by Cloudera founder Christophe Bisciglia [pictured, left] and Aaron Kimball [pictured, right], is announcing $5 million in new funding from NEA and Google Chairman Eric Schmidt. Past investors in the company include Cloudera CEO Mike Olson, and SV Angel.

Bisciglia tells us that WibiData (which was formerly Odiago) is focused on creating a unified framework for engineers and data scientists who collaborate around tools and applications. The product is still in beta, but has already doubled its customer base. “We’re helping deliver personalized products and services in a way that can scale to large volumes of data and be flexible as data evolves,” he says.

The new funding will be used to grow WibiData’s engineering team, open an office and more. More...

In US, Groupon Acquires Location-Based Tech Firm Hyperpublic

- Start-up provides technology to websites enabling users to post locations online and search for other things nearby
- Terms of deal not disclosed
- Hyperpublic CEO says "select" members of his 10-person team will join Groupon as employees

Posted by John Letzing of Dow Jones Newswires at The Wall Street Journal: SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)--Groupon Inc. (GRPN) has acquired Hyperpublic Inc., snapping up the two-year-old location-based technology start-up amid a growth spurt at the daily deals service.

"It's a great outcome for everybody," Hyperpublic Chief Executive and co-founder Jordan Cooper [pictured],  said in an interview Friday. "We built our relationship with Groupon over a number of months, and it just continued to strengthen." More...

tracx Raises $4.4m to Expand Social Media Platform

mrweb.com reports: In the US, social media analytics specialist tracx has received $4.4m in Series B funding, which it will use to fuel growth and international expansion. At the same time, the firm has launched a system to enable users to identify and manage their audience profiling and segmentation.

Commenting on the launch of the platform, CEO Eran Gilad [pictured] said: ‘We believe that marketing professionals can utilize tracx to extract the richest and most accurate data needed to build effective, targeted strategies that generate the highest return on investment.’ More…

In US, Webtrends to Invest $7 Million in 2012, Enjoys Astounding Growth of 418 Percent

Webtrends Expanding IP Footprint in Pacific Northwest by Adding 35 Engineers

02/03/2012 | Portland, OR - Webtrends, the global leader in unified mobile, social and web analytics and engagement, announced today that it is taking aggressive steps to foster IP growth and innovation by adding dozens of talented engineers to the company roster. Over the course of 2012, Webtrends will put $7 million dollars toward the hiring of more than 50 new positions, including 35 in engineering and four in marketing, and significantly increasing program spend.

“Over the last three years Webtrends has focused aggressively on out-innovating the market, particularly in rich and emerging media channels,” explains Alex Yoder [pictured], Chief Executive Officer of Webtrends. “We are the natural pure play in analytics and personalization, providing real time relevance to our customers and driving remarkable ROI. As such, we are excited to extend our commitment to accelerating our leadership position and remain in the driver’s seat of change within our industry. We will be adding more of the best and the brightest people, ranging from seasoned executives to recent graduates. Top tier talent is and will always be the cornerstone of Webtrends’ success.” More…

In US, Thismoment Acquires Position2 Brand Monitor

Thismoment Adds Social Monitoring and Engagement to Market Leading Social Content Management System for Brands

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - Feb 9, 2012) - thismoment, Inc., a provider of social content management software for brands that want to rapidly and effectively engage consumers across social and mobile platforms, today announced that it has acquired Position2 Brand Monitor, a leading social media monitoring and engagement platform. Position2 Brand Monitor will rebrand as thismoment Brand Monitor.

Vince Broady [pictured, left], CEO and Founder, thismoment said: "We are thrilled to acquire such an advanced technology platform and team as we continue our drive to provide the strongest, most powerful brand management solution available to enterprise customers. As we look to expand internationally, Brand Monitor also provides us with close to 500 customers around the globe, with a particularly strong footprint in Asia. With the addition of Brand Monitor, thismoment DEC customers will now, better than ever, listen, discover and engage with their audiences on social media networks, and have an enhanced understanding of marketing campaign performance with conversation metrics, including volumes, sentiment, and share of voice."  

Rajiv Parikh [pictured, right], CEO, Position2 adds: "We think our customers will significantly benefit from this acquisition and we couldn't be more pleased about this acquisition by thismoment, one of the fastest growing social content management firms for brands. With our technology, DEC will now be the most complete social media marketing solution on the market. Enterprise customers will now have a better understanding of marketing campaign performance, can move more quickly to leverage trends, can track conversations to better understand market sentiment and can drive higher message retention."  More...

In US, Socialbakers Launches, Catapults Momentum With Major American Partnerships and Billions of Social Interactions Analyzed

Social Analytics Leader Hires Team of Tech Veterans, Hits Ground Running After Massive Unveiling of its Political Social Analytics on Facebook

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9, 2012 -- Socialbakers, the world's most cited source and fastest growing social media analytics company, today announced the launch of its U.S. headquarters in San Francisco. The company also announced its new U.S. leadership team based in San Francisco, which includes veteran technology executive Martin Huml [pictured, left] as President and Chief Operating Officer, and Katrina Wong [pictured, center] as Vice President of Marketing. Socialbakers' global expansion follows rapid demand from many of America's most recognized brands.

"Companies can no longer expect or assume that online users will engage with their Facebook or Twitter content. Our clients increase social media relevance and build their social community faster because we show what is working, what doesn't work and how they compare against competitors. Companies can build tremendous communities by using our technology to understand which content is most and least engaging and viral," said Jan Rezab [pictured, right], Socialbakers CEO. More...

In US and France, Dassault Systèmes Acquires Netvibes

Enriches 3D Experience Platform with ‘Information Intelligence Experiences’ for the Business World and Consumers

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, France and SAN FRANCISCO – February 9, 2012 — Dassault Systèmes (Euronext Paris: #13065, DSY.PA), world leader in 3D design software, 3D Digital Mock Up and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions, announced today the acquisition of Netvibes, the award-winning brand in dashboard intelligence technologies to enrich its 3D Experience platform.

“Our vision is to provide ‘social information experiences’ to the business world and consumers; holistic views on everything that matters, both inside and outside the company, in order to innovate,” said Bernard Charlès [pictured, left], President and CEO, Dassault Systèmes. “Netvibes is a perfect fit for our 3D Experience platform. It will connect information related to all product, service and user experiences from internal and external data sources, all in real-time and in-context for a better, richer experience and decision-making process.”

Freddy Mini [pictured, right], CEO, Netvibes added, “This partnership was born out of our mutual vision to bring Dashboard Intelligence to company platforms and processes, as well as real-time information to everyday people. To achieve this ambitious vision, we needed an ambitious partner like Dassault Systèmes, whose deep authority as global technology leader will rapidly accelerate our efforts across the enterprise world. Combined with Dassault Systèmes’ 3D Experience platform, we will provide customers with real-time information critical to their innovation process. The time between consumer reaction and business action is the key to providing the best experience possible.” More...

In US, Extole Secures $10 Million in Series C Funding Led by Shasta Ventures

Following Record Growth in 2011, Leading Social Marketing Platform Closes Round with Participation from New and Existing Investors

San Francisco, CA, Feb. 8, 2012 – Extole (www.extole.com), the leading Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) Social Marketing Platform, today announced it has closed a $10 million Series C round of funding, bringing the company’s total financing to $22 million. The round was led by Shasta Ventures with participation from existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Redpoint Ventures, and Trident Capital. Extole marks the first Shasta investment for Jim Barnett, who joined Shasta Ventures as a partner in November 2011 and has served as Extole’s Chairman of the Board since 2009.

“Brands have a massive opportunity to tap into an entirely new, high-value marketing channel by harnessing the power and reach of their social advocates with C2C Social Marketing. At the same time, our platform also improves the performance of existing marketing channels, such as SEO and display,” said Brad Klaus [pictured, left], CEO of Extole. “The market opportunity is validated by our incredible growth trajectory. We’re thrilled by the vote of confidence from Shasta and our existing investors.”

“C2C Social Marketing will revolutionize how marketers interact with their customers. The market opportunity is enormous,” said Jim Barnett [pictured, right], Partner of Shasta Ventures and Chairman of the Board of Extole.  “Extole has established itself as a leader based on its C2C focus, strong leadership team, and comprehensive platform, making it an easy choice to be my first investment at Shasta Ventures.”  More...

In US, Merkle Acquires Social Amp, Leading Facebook Open-Graph Developer

Columbia, MD - February 1, 2012 -  Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading customer relationship marketing firm and the nation’s largest privately-held agency, announced that it has acquired New York-based Social Amp, a recognized authority in Facebook Open Graph marketing and OAuth solutions for Fortune 500 brands and global agencies. The acquisition supports Merkle’s ongoing strategy to expand its capabilities in the area of digital marketing and to further strengthen its connected CRM approach.

“The addition of Social Amp’s site socialization solution to the Merkle family will present our clients with new insights into how social behaviors influence the consumer decision-making process on websites,” said David Williams [pictured], chairman and CEO of Merkle. “It brings the power of Facebook Open Graph data into the brand site to enhance consumer experience and ecommerce. The capability is a perfect fit within Merkle, as it is rooted in information, analytics, technology and ultimately, marketing performance.” More…

In US, Domo Welcomes IVP to All-Star Investor List

Domo Closes $20 Million Series A-1 Round, Bringing Total Funding to $63 Million; Capital Will Be Used to Extend Flexibility as Strong Demand Validates Domo’s Business Management Platform

LINDON, Utah – February 1, 2012 – Domo, a new software-as-a-service (SaaS) venture launched by Omniture co-founder Josh James [pictured] to redefine the business intelligence (BI) market and transform the way business is managed, today announced it has closed $20 million from Institutional Venture Partners (IVP) in Series A-1 funding. This round brings total investment in Domo to $63 million.

“Winning takes 100 percent focus,” said James. “While we weren’t in the market for additional funding, the capital from a trusted and experienced partner such as IVP made a lot of sense. We’ve experienced positive feedback from the marketplace. This move fills the coffers and enables us to stay focused on execution. It also provides flexibility as we build out our sales organization and position the company to take advantage of strategic growth opportunities.”  More...