Brand Networks announced Wednesday morning that it has acquired Optimal Inc.–its first acquisition–for $35 million. The new addition will fully furnish Brand Networks' social media marketing platform, as well as aid in the Boston-based company's global expansion, CEO Jamie Tedford told BostInno over email.
"Brand Networks and Optimal share a vision for the future of the industry. We are excited about the possibilities this acquisition offers as we look to grow our business and expand internationally in 2014," said Tedford.
Brand Network's recent momentum seems to have at last come to a head. The company finally broke from its bootstrapping tradition in June 2013, raising a massive $68 million round of Series A from private equity firm AEA Investors. The acquisition also comes quick on the tails of Brand Network's August hiring of Anthony Green, who stepped into the role of SVP of New Business at Brand Networks from his position at Optimal as VP of Development, and former COO at Sparkart Group Jeff Madison, who moved into the VP position of Client Services.
"Brand Networks is joining forces with Optimal to better serve our customers across all social platforms. Optimal’s suite of products is focused on self-serve, real-time bidding and analytics, making it a natural complement to Brand Networks’ Social Marketing Stack. Combined, these offerings provide a powerful suite of tools to power social advertising and marketing across paid, earned and owned channels," said Tedford.
Working with top brands like Gucci, Sephora and Gilt Groupe, Optimal Inc. offers an SaaS platform that specializes in real-time ad buying, optimization and analytics for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. The company, started in 2008, is a Twitter Ads API partner as well as a Facebook Exchange (FBX)-qualified Preferred Marketing Developer (PMD). Further, LinkedIn recently tapped Optimal as one of its first two partners in the site's Sponsored Updates Partner Program. The company has also recently become profitable, according to Optimal CEO and founder Rob Leathern's statement.
With access to Optimal's technology, Brand Networks will offer the most comprehensive suite of integrated management for apps, ads, publishing and insights across all of the four big social networks–Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.
Optimal will keep its name within the Brand Networks umbrella, and Leathern will become Brand Network's Chief Product Officer. While Optimal’s San Francisco headquarters will serve as the hub of Brand Networks’ West Coast operations, the acquired company's New York-based team will join Brand Networks’ New York City office in SoHo.
Brand Networks began in 2006 in Boston, and has since opened up offices in Los Angeles, Toronto, Rochester and New York City. Across its five offices, Brand Networks has around 135 employees. Given Optimal's existing four offices, including one in London, and the amicable terms of the deal, the total number of people working at the company will likely be up after today.
As BostInno pointed out in June at the time of the company's growth round, it was only a matter of time before Brand Networks made its first acquisition. Bringing on Optimal gives Brand Networks a strong start. If the company keeps this up, we could be looking at the birth of Boston's next anchor.
