SpotRight

SpotRight, Inc. is an audience insights and targeting platform used by brands and agencies for people-based marketing. The company builds on social and consumer data to make audience information accessible and actionable for data-driven marketers, supporting efforts to reach both existing and prospective customers.

The business originated in Boulder, Colorado, where it operated from 1048 Pearl St. It traces its roots to Giveo, a company created in 2010 to run cause-marketing campaigns for nonprofits and other organizations. Giveo served more than 60 clients across web, social and mobile campaigns before management concluded the cause-marketing space had become crowded and difficult to compete in. Observing that its campaigns were generating substantial consumer engagement data, the team pivoted the business into SpotRight, a platform applying social media data to marketing. Several of Giveo's larger nonprofit clients, including the Environmental Defense Fund and AARP, moved over to SpotRight.

In late July 2012, SpotRight announced a merger with Spot Influence, a Boulder-based startup and alumnus of the 2010 TechStars program focused on social influence measurement and analytics. The combined business operated under the SpotRight name and, per CEO Ed Messman, brought together backgrounds in data, social media and big data infrastructure. SpotRight was later acquired by Wiland.

Founding story

The company's origins lie with Giveo, founded in 2010 to build cause-marketing campaigns for nonprofits and other entities. Giveo assembled a roster of more than 60 clients for web, social and mobile campaigns and raised over $1 million in venture capital according to SEC filings. Facing a crowded competitive landscape, CEO Ed Messman and his team assessed what was working in the business and concluded that the consumer engagement generated by their campaigns was producing valuable data. In 2011 Giveo was transformed into SpotRight, a startup building a platform to use social media data to support marketers.

Business model

SpotRight provides an audience insights and targeting platform sold to brands and agencies for people-based marketing.

Traction

Predecessor Giveo served more than 60 clients across web, social and mobile campaigns; after the 2012 merger with Spot Influence the combined company employed roughly a dozen people and expected to grow over the following three to six months.

Latest developments

In September 2017 SpotRight announced a $6.75 million combined equity and debt round led by TechOperators and Silicon Valley Bank to expand its people-based marketing capabilities. The company was later acquired by Wiland, in a sellside M&A transaction advised by Bowen.