When Mavrck pitched at Techstars Demo Day last month, co-founder Lyle Stevens shared on stage that the ad-tech startup had signed a term sheet for its Series A. On Wednesday, that Series A was formally announced, in the form of $2.5 million from GrandBanks Capital.
The company rebranded in November from Splashscore to Mavrck — a name, according to fellow co-founder Chris Wolfel, that better fit the brand the team was trying to build. With the rebrand came a shift toward becoming more of an enterprise social platform, which was reinforced Wednesday when Mavrck launched the white-label version of its social influence marketing platform.
With Mavrck's Influencer Activation Engine, brands are able to identify and activate their most influential customers to create branded content at scale. Companies can achieve this by launching branded VIP communities that their customers can apply to join for exclusive content, rewards and experiences. A real-time dashboard then helps brands gain insights on the topics and keywords driving engagement among their most authoritative fans.
Once the influential customers have been identified, brands can leverage them to create content that converts better than traditional advertising. When customers create branded content, companies using Mavrck can engage with it in real-time, either by responding to it or capturing influencer-generated photos or videos as part of their campaigns.
Tim Wright, general partner at GrandBanks Capital, lauded Mavrck's position in the market, sharing in a statement:
Mavrck is displacing the traditional display ad and ultimately transforming the future of digital marketing by changing the way that brands engage with consumers on social. The company’s new enterprise platform addresses the challenge of driving sales on social and they are the right team to successfully attack this enormous market opportunity.
With its Series A, Mavrck will be focused on doubling its roughly eight-person team to accelerate product development. The startup is currently working with more than 20 brands, including Sears, Unilever and SC Johnson, to identify their influencers on Facebook and have those influencers post branded content on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Twitter. Mavrck plans to roll out its algorithm to all social networks that enable a consumer to create content, however, by the end of next year.
Mavrck has since moved back to its North End office post-Techstars, but has also received dedicated desk space at Mullen. The advertising agency partnered with Workbar this fall to create a co-working space for three ad-tech startups within the firm, called WUNDERBAR.
"Our team has proven that one everyday influencer creating branded content can get three of their friends to convert on a regular basis, which is much more effective at driving sales than obtaining strangers to merely follow the brand on social," said Stevens in a statement. "We are now positioned to help top performing brands take advantage of this marketing strategy at scale.”
Image via Mavrck
