{"id":339932,"date":"2017-05-03T15:22:34","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T07:22:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/?p=1484564"},"modified":"2017-05-03T15:22:34","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T07:22:34","slug":"yieldify-raises-another-6m-appoints-adtech-vet-john-giuliani-as-chairman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.utm.my\/asmawisham\/yieldify-raises-another-6m-appoints-adtech-vet-john-giuliani-as-chairman\/","title":{"rendered":"Yieldify raises another $6M, appoints adtech vet John Giuliani as chairman"},"content":{"rendered":"

As the web becomes an ever more crowded landscape of things battling for your attention, we\u2019re seeing an increase in marketing spend from companies to help capture it, and that in turn is leading to a rising tide for marketing technology startups building solutions\u00a0to do just that. Today, Yieldify<\/a>, a London-based company that builds tools tools to increase conversions on sites and through email campaigns, is announcing a new round of $6 million to continue building out its products. At the same time, it is appointing a new chairman, John Giuliani, an industry veteran who most recently sold his company Conversant to Alliance Data for $2.3 billion<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Giuliani is also one of the backers\u00a0in this round of funding, along with a new VC called Binomial Ventures, where one of the partners, Konstantin Stiskin, had previously invested in Yieldify\u2019s seed round.<\/p>\n

You might recall that Yieldify was one of the first investments made in Europe<\/a> by GV, which partnered with Softbank Capital to invest $11.5 million<\/a> in the startup back in 2015. Other previous investors included Hoxton Ventures, Robin Klein and Data Point Capital (where Giuliani is a partner<\/a>).<\/p>\n

None of these past investors are part of this latest round, although they remain investors in the company, CEO and founder Jay Radia told me.<\/p>\n

The new\u00a0investor list may not be too surprising: most of the above list has gone through some pretty large shifts in recent times. GV (formerly Google Ventures) has increased\u00a0its focus<\/a>\u00a0on life sciences and AI; Softbank Capital is no more<\/a> and that fund (through partner Joe Medved) is\u00a0now managing past\u00a0investments from Lerer Hippeau; Robin Klein left Index and is now at Localglobe<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Yieldify itself, meanwhile, has been in the news more in the last couple of years more for drama rather than its own state of business. A competitor out of the U.S., Bounce Exchange, sued the company for IP infringement<\/a>, Yieldify fought back<\/a> and in the end the two settled confidentially<\/a>. At the same time, the company laid off 10 percent of staff. It\u2019s now at 120 employees.<\/p>\n

With all of this behind it now, the company is getting back down to business. Radia said that year-on-year growth has been at 174 percent on average for the last four years, and the company currently has around 500 customers, large and medium enterprises that include brand names like CVS, French Connection and Domino\u2019s. It\u2019s not disclosing revenues but Radia told me that the company expects to be profitable by Q4 of this year.<\/p>\n

The company today offers a range of products that let businesses market to specific customers who either visit its site or apps, or receive their emails through lists, with targeted messages for discounts and other specific offers\u00a0based on what you\u2019ve purchased or shown an interest in\u00a0already. Most recently, in February of this year it launched a new self-service conversion platform<\/a> for\u00a0create and measure and analyse campaigns.<\/p>\n

More than simple\u00a0retargeting tools, Radia describes what Yieldify does as a \u201cbig data play\u201d: it has racked up 4.7 billion customer interactions and uses that to help analyse behavior in real time.<\/p>\n

Unlike many other big data players in the marketing space, today the company does not buy in or sell its data, Radia said. That is something potentially up for consideration in the future, he added, although for now the focus is more on building products based on what Yieldify already has.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are focusing on leveraging live data to allow us to create better insights, and we are looking at other channels as well,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is all still in R&D phase.\u201d But it should be coming online later this year, he added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As for other channels, one area where Yieldify is conspicuously not capturing businesses\u2019 audiences is on social media. With Facebook now one of the biggest advertising companies in the world, with social media channels today\u00a0often the only place where businesses are looking to spread their name to pick up new business, this seems like a very obvious gap that Yieldify will be looking to try to fill.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s funding takes the total raised by Yieldify to around $20 million. Radia would not comment on valuation except to say that \u201cwe\u2019re happy.\u201d The company\u2019s pre-money\u00a0valuation was not to far off $70 million, I understand.<\/p>\n

With a list of illustrious investors behind it, it\u2019s interesting that the startup chose instead to take a different turn and go for less-known names for this smaller round. Radia said that this was a conscious decision.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my first business and I wanted more hands on investors,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe profiles of the people\u00a0I was speaking to were super hands-on and dedicated.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Hands-on will have to come from afar, though. Giuliani is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada, while Yieldify is headquartered in London (with offices in New York and Sydney, Australia). \u201cThe Yieldify product and the team behind it are breaking new ground in the marketing technology space,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cThe recognition that they\u2019ve received among the clients they work with and the investors they\u2019ve attracted is well-earned and distinguished. This is shaping up to be an exciting journey that I\u2019m looking forward to being a part of.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Previous investors may not have put money into this round, but they continue to support the company, too. \u201cWith an amazing new platform to scale its products and delivery, Yieldify has positioned itself to be a trailblazer in this space,\u201d said Medved. \u201cWe\u2019ve been proud to watch its progress so far, so we\u2019re delighted to now welcome John and the new investors on board to help its leadership team take the next steps to fulfil their vision.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"\" As the web becomes an ever more crowded landscape of things battling for your attention, we’re seeing an increase in marketing spend from companies to help capture it, and that in turn is leading to a rising tide for marketing technology startups building solutions\u00a0to do just that. Today, Yieldify, a London-based company that builds tools tools to increase conversions on sites and… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n

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