Closely a mobile-first technology company that empowers small businesses to participate more effectively in digital marketing today announced that it has attracted 3 million in Series A funding Grotech Ventures led the round with participation from Steadfast Venture Capital and CNF Investments The funding will be used to build out the company’s SMB marketplace platform Perch and expand support for small businesses throughout North America
The team at Closely is addressing a universal challenge for marketing tech providers and that is simply that no one is getting the attention of the SMBs said Joe Zell general partner for Grotech Ventures Closely’s Perch platform serves up valuable everyday information and ideas that engage business owners and then identifies solutions specific to their business based on their marketplace behavior It’s a compelling disruptive product and business model
Closely’s award-winning app Perch has become recognized as a must-have mobile business app for small business owners and marketers Through Perch Closely provides simple compelling ways for SMBs to digest and approach their digital marketing powered by real-time monitoring of social mobile promotions and reviews activities In the past year the company unveiled the second generation of its Perch platform solidified its revenue model and forged partnerships with industry leading marketing companies Perch aims to deliver highly relevant connections between SMB’s and the digital marketing products that help address specific gaps and opportunities based on personalized data-driven insights
Business owners recognize the huge potential that social and digital marketing can have on their business but are flooded by a fire hose of information from marketing technologies vying for their attention We cut through the noise and make it possible for business owners to watch learn and understand what is most important in their own local marketplace said Perry Evans CEO and founder of Closely Our investors have tremendous vision and experience with local and mobile technologies and really appreciate the need for SMB channels to be reinvented with a mobile-first model With this funding and solid advisory team we are poised to make a strong mark on the SMB marketing world ‘
The Perch App provides more than 35,000 business owners with a bird-eye view into the latest Facebook Twitter Yelp Google+ Instagram Foursquare Groupon and Living Social posts making it easy for businesses to stay up to speed on their business and the competition through an easy to use mobile app
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About Grotech
Founded in 1984 and investing out of its eighth fund Grotech Ventures http://www grotech com is a leading early investor in high-potential technology companies Grotech seeks innovative IT companies with particular emphasis on digital and social media software and SaaS security and storage technologies healthcare information technology and communications technology and services Grotech continues to invest and add value throughout the growth of its portfolio companies The firm has a strong combination of industry relationships and deep domain and operational expertise to accelerate growth Grotech supports early-stage companies through investments starting at $500,000
About Steadfast Venture Capital
Steadfast Venture Capital SVC is an early stage investment firm housed in New York City with a focus on web and digital media products SVC believes in partnering with founders at Day ‘ with steadfast focus and discipline driving growth This means supporting entrepreneurs with grand visions but settled in pragmatic execution across each milestone SVC backs product- and operational-focused teams who have domain expertise in select industries including the local economy travel e-commerce and digital media
About CNF Investments
Established in , CNF Investments http://www cnfinvestments com is a Washington DC-based private investment firm with a focus on venture capital and private equity opportunities CNF manages over 300 million in capital with current investments in technology healthcare and oil and gas and will consider direct as well as fund investments CNF is an affiliate of Clark Enterprises Inc , the parent company of Clark Construction Group
About Closely
Closely is a technology company dedicated to empowering small businesses to succeed with everyday local marketing Founded in early 2010 by startup veteran Perry Evans Closely provides mobile and web-based tools that help merchants watch learn and discover how to drive maximum impact with local digital marketing From its headquarters in Denver Colorado the company partners with leading national providers of digital marketing services to help local merchants stay competitive in a changing media environment For more information visit http://closely com
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