Baird Capital, the Chicago-based venture capital arm of Milwaukee's Robert W. Baird & Co., is investing in a company that developed software for investigating and monitoring cases of digital infringement associated with a company's online identity, including social media accounts and smartphone apps.
Baird Capital is leading a $12.2 million Series C funding round for Boise, Idaho-based Appdetex, and adding partner Jim Pavlik to the software company's board of directors.
“Amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, adoption of digital technologies and services has accelerated, with most consumers and businesses now relying heavily on digital channels for work, school, entertainment, shopping, communication and almost every aspect of their lives,” Pavlik said. "Seeing an opportunity to profit on that reliance, malicious actors have increasingly attacked brands and their customer relationships in those same channels.”
Appdetex is applying the newly acquired funds toward developing its software and growing its sales and service teams. The company has raised about $30 million from private investors since it launched in 2012.
“Malicious actors hawking fake sites, apps, ads, or with insidious purposes, prey on internet users and try to insert themselves in between customers and the brands they trust,” said Appdetex CEO Faisal Shah. “For the valuable brands we protect, Appdetex mitigates digital channel risks on the internet, across advertising, social media, mobile app and e-commerce marketplaces as well as within other emerging digital channels. With this additional financing, we look forward to continuing to invest in our advanced technology and analytics platform to deliver innovative, multi-channel brand protection solutions for our customers.”
Baird reported net revenue of $2.06 billion in 2019.
