Just a few short days ago, Business Insider published their list of the hottest pre-IPO adtech companies of 2014. Among companies like Pinterest, AdRoll and AppNexus, number fifteen on the list of high flyers was enterprise social relationship platform Sprinklr.
As part of the BI write up, they say, "Sprinklr targets large companies that need massive social, CRM and enterprise communications management needs." They also say that Sprinklr had raised a total of $28M in VC funding. While it's still true that Sprinklr targets large enterprises needing to manage an exponentially increasing amount of interactions taking place over a growing number of social channels, that $28M number is outdated...as of this morning with the announcement of a new $40M round of funding.
This new Series D round was led by Iconiq Capital, with participation from existing investors Battery Ventures and Intel Capital. And according to a company press release, this new funding is expected to help them reach their goal of 300% year-over-year growth.
While BI says Sprinklr has been flying under the radar, it seems like that has changed in 2014 with the February acquisition of consulting/analytics firm Dachis Group, along with the January launch of an integrated social listening platform. And, in addition to the new funding round, Sprinklr also announced the launch of a new integrated paid social media capability. Today's announcement states "the new capability enables brands and their agencies to plan, execute, measure and optimize their paid activities on Facebook and Twitter in the same environment as their owned and earned engagement."
It's easy to see why Sprinklr made BI's list. They have a leading platform in a hot area that enterprises know they need help with. And as more channels generate more social interactions, companies will need a platform to efficiently and effectively scale their ability respond to customer needs and expectations. But, as the Dachis acquisition illustrates, it takes more than a great platform to do this. It also takes assistance in optimizing the right engagement mix (paid, earned, owned) implemented using best practices, in order to get the most out of a powerful platform.
Sprinklr's dual announcements officially mark the end of the "under the radar" period. They not only have to keep adding to their platform, but also continue integrating it with other important enterprise systems (current integrations include Salesforce.com and Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Marketo) in order to meet the full needs of the enterprise. And the new round of funding should help in these areas - through organic growth and/or other acquisitions.
Finally, with Iconiq leading this latest round, it may be a signal that Sprinklr is preparing to not be on BI's pre-IPO list in 2015 or 2016.
As an aside, two Sprinklr clients - Nissan and Kimpton Hotels - contributed case studies to the 2014 Social Customer Engagement Index report. To see how they use Sprinklr in implementing their social customer service efforts, you can get your free copy of the report by clicking on this registration link.