Buddy Media, a Facebook management system for advertisers, has raised USD23m in series C funding to fuel its growth.
Institutional Venture Partners led the new round and was joined by existing Buddy Media investors including Softbank Capital, Greycroft Partners and Bay Partners.
The Buddy Media investment is the first by IVP in its latest fund, a USD750m later-stage venture capital and growth equity fund announced in August 2010.
The expansion capital will be used to triple Buddy Media’s employee headcount to 300 in the next 18 months, as well as fund other marketing and growth initiatives.
Buddy Media’s Facebook management system, The Buddy Media Platform, is web-based marketing software that provides companies scale, secure architecture and administrative tools to connect with their current and future customers using the power of Facebook’s 550-million strong and growing social network.
Steve Harrick, general partner at IVP who has joined the Buddy Media board of directors, says: “Buddy Media’s first mover advantage, superior offering and experienced management team are all reasons for their exponential growth and for our investment in the company. In the same way major brands and agencies have invested in web-based software for sales or display advertising, they are now investing in marketing software for the largest two-way communications platform of all time: Facebook. We looked at every company in the space and Buddy Media is the clear leader by a wide margin.”
Michael Lazerow, chairman and chief executive of Buddy Media, adds: “The power and scale of Facebook is truly unrivaled, and we’re eager to continue delivering best in class solutions to our clients, through the support of our industry’s best known and well respected investors. Our clients have seen firsthand the power of Facebook, and with this expansion capital, we can grow our operations more quickly in order to meet accelerating demand.”
