Today it was announced that both Spredfast and Sprinklr, two leading competitors in the social media management platform space, raised $18mm and $15mm, respectively. Spredfast's investment round was led by OpenView Venture Partners, along with existing investors Austin Ventures and InterWest Partners. Sprinklr's comes from prior Battery Ventures and Intel Capital, who started as a client and is now an investment partner as well.
Sprinklr CEO Ragy Thomas saw Spredfast's announcement as "A vote of confidence from the industry as a whole and a positive validation that there is a significant enterprise need and appetite for tools to manage social media conversations in real time and in a consistent manner," while Spredfast CEO Rod Favaron agreed, saying "We congratulate Sprinklr on their funding - it's further validation that the social media management space continues to be seen as a major growth market."
As to whether they see tendencies towards more investment into independent companies or acquisitions, Thomas felt that while "There will be continued M&A activity in the social media management space...We foresee healthy growth and investor appetite for independent companies who are able to innovate at the speed of social." Favaron said "Companies in this market need to have both the resources and the independence to innovate quickly. We have seen several acquisitions this past year with Oracle and Salesforce, but are confident that the companies that will be standing at the end of the day will be ones with a strong team and focused direction."
Sprinklr provides the social foundations for many notable companies such as Microsoft, Samsung, and General Motors, while Spredfast's customers include Oracle, Whole Foods, and Warner Brothers.