Hootsuite Raises Another $60 Million, Buys Zeetl

Updated on

Hootsuite insists it doesn’t need money but continues to raise it. Last year, the company raised $165 million and it announced today that it raised an additional $60 million. The company offers a single dashboard to companies that allows them to monitor customer interactions as well as post on over 35 social networks, including LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD), Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR), and Instagram.

The funding comes on top of building rumors that the company is nearing an initial public offering in the near future.

Hootsuite’s new and existing investors

This round of funding was led by a Boston-based asset manager, most likely Fidelity Investments if the Wall Street Journal was accurate in its reporting earlier this month when it reported a $35 million investment. It also secured money from existing investors that include: Omers Ventures, Accel Partners, and Insight Venture Partners.

Omer Ventures is the venture capital interest of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System pension fund, which has also invested in Shopify Inc. and Desire2Learn Inc. which could also go public in the near future.

“We had a lot of interest for this round,” Ryan Holmes, Hootsuite’s chief executive officer, said in a phone interview. “There wasn’t enough room to bring in all the investors that were interested.”

This time last year, the company had 7 million registered users a number that is now at over 10 million and includes NHL, eBay and Sony Music Entertainment among its clients.

Ryan Holmes also claims that the company doubled its revenues from last year without being terrifically specific before saying that “We really don’t need the money,” and that the company’s cash position is “good,” again without elaboration.

Another acquisition by Hootsuite

In addition to the release that detailed the company’s funding efforts, the company announced that it has acquired Zeetl on the heels of its acquisition of Brightkit.

Zeetl is a telephony company that integrates live telephone calling with Twitter. It allows Twitter users to tweet a request for a direct link to a company and the company responds with a direct link for a voice call when you need more than a quick Twitter answer from a company’s customer service department.

“Acquisitions form an important part of our growth strategy,” added Holmes, “We’re expecting big things from the brilliant team at Zeetl and Brightkit and are looking forward to getting this technology into the hands of our customers.”

Leave a Comment