In a big win for the Cincinnati startup ecosystem, Quotient Technology Inc., parent company of Coupons.com, has acquired Mount Lookout-based Ahalogy in a deal for up to $50 million, including $20 million in cash.
Along with the $20 million, the Mountain View, Calif. tech company could end up paying the additional $30 million should Ahalogy, a marketing technology platform that helps brands connect seamlessly with their consumers' interests, achieve a host of financial goals by the end of 2019's fiscal year.
Ahalogy and its 45-employee team will stay in the Queen City, led by its current CEO and cofounder Bob Gilbreath.
The company launched in 2012 as Pingage, a nod to the fact that it initially specialized in Pintrest marketing. Since then, Ahalogy expanded into other social media platforms, launching two core products, Muse, a source of influencer trend data, and Brandables, a platform for influencer marketing campaigns.
The acquisition, which is set to be finalized later this month, represents a solid return for Cincinnati's innovation economy. Ahalogy was a graduate of local accelerator The Brandery and received funding from local firms: public-private investment entity CincyTech and Vine Street Ventures, led by The Brandery's cofounders. The startup also received investment from Chicago-based Hyde Park Venture Partners and Cleveland-based North Coast Angel Fund. Additionally, Origin Ventures led Ahalogy’s Series A fundraising round in December 2013, and subsequent fundraising rounds through 2016. The company ultimately raised four rounds of funding totaling $10.2 million, Crunchbase states.
As a Brandery graduate and a tech startup helping big consumer brands scale, Ahalogy’s exit further cements Cincinnati as a hub for CPG and brand marketing innovation.
In a statement, Hyde Park Venture's Tim Kopp, Ira Weiss and Guy Turner trumpeted the deal, saying that the firm is "excited about the opportunity this outcome creates for employees and investors and look forward to what lies ahead." Hyde Park also noted that the return left them "very optimistic for Quotient, the Ahalogy team and the City of Cincinnati."
The acquisition will help bolster Quotient's performance media solutions abilities, ultimately allowing them to increase its presence in the influencer marketing space — one that's projected to reach $10 billion by 2020.
“Ahalogy has proven expertise in creating and delivering targeted digital content that drives brand sales, especially through social channels," said Quotient President and CEO Mir Aamir in a statement. "This gives us another capability to deliver efficient digital media campaigns that reach valuable shoppers, including our 100 million verified buyer audience, using our proprietary shopper data to drive sales and measure performance.”
Gilbreath echoed Aamir's sentiments.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to join Quotient,” he said. “This is a great opportunity to bring our influencer marketing capabilities to the more than 2,000 brands within Quotient’s network, giving CPG brands and retailers a single company to manage much of their digital marketing.”
