Skyword, a Boston-based provider of content marketing software, announced on Tuesday that it has raised a $25 million growth equity round.
The financing came from Rho Acceleration, a division of private equity firm Rho Capital Partners that focuses on profitable or near-breakeven ventures, according to its website. Skyword's other current investors include Cox Media Group, Allen & Company, Progress Ventures and American Public Media Group.
Skyword said it will use the funds, which will be augmented by a separate $5 million working capital line with Cambridge Trust, to invest in growth and product development. The company is also hiring.
As part of the round, George Bitar, Doug McCormick and Mark Roehrenbeck of Rho are joining Skyword's board of directors.
Skyword's clients include New Balance, Entertainment Weekly, MasterCard and IBM. The company said its clients have published more than 1 million original stories on its software platform since its 2010 founding. Those stories, in turn, have brought the company's clients more than 1.8 billion organic visits to their websites.
"People are avoiding and blocking interrupt ads and marketing techniques in record numbers. But they’re consuming great content at unprecedented rates. To succeed, marketers must shift their fundamental marketing approach from ad-centric to story-centric," Tom Gerace, founder and CEO of Skyword, said in a statement.
