The Twin Cities marketing and ad tech scene is synonymous with a few big names. Odds are that one of the first to come to mind is Leadpages, a five-year-old software firm used by companies to create web pages that turn visitors into customers.
Leadpages has grown exponentially since it was founded in 2012. Earlier this year, the company was slotted at 297 on Inc.'s list of the the country's 5,000 fastest growing companies. According to Inc., Leadpages reported $21.1 million in revenue, and a growth rate of 1477.13% since 2013.
It's a big business, but still worth keeping an eye on. Co-founder Clay Collins left the company this summer, passing the torch to John Tedesco, who had been a top executive at the software firm for two years. Leadpages also made its first acquisition in 2016, scooping up California automated-marketing company Drip Inc.
Leadpages isn't the only Twin Cities marketing startup worth watching today. In an area home to an ever-increasing number of startups and around 20 Fortune 500 companies, dozens of marketing and ad tech startups have popped up to promote businesses big and small. The companies in this ecosystem specialize in everything from video creation to artificial intelligence, and Minne Inno has the ones you need to know about right now.
Originally from India, StoryXpress was one of 10 startups that participated in this summer's Target + Techstars retail accelerator. At the end of the accelerator, StoryXpress announced that it would be moving its headquarters to the Twin Cities. The company offers a platform that helps advertisers rapidly create video promotions.
The local infotainment startup that won the Minnesota Cup's high tech division last year. Vugo's original model involved putting relevant advertisements in front of passengers of car services like Uber and Lyft via tablets in the passenger area of the vehicle. Drivers provided the devices and Vugo contributed the content, giving drivers a 60/40 split of the revenue. Around a year ago, the company decided to pivot its core business model from car drivers to car manufacturers. Vugo is currently raising $1 million through crowdfunding platform Fundable. Read Minne Inno's story on Vugo's pivot here.
Founded by serial entrepreneurs Scott Litman and Dan Mallin, Equals 3 created "Lucy," a web-based software program that mines data to generate market research. Lucy is powered by IBM's Watson, a question-answering computer system capable of understanding natural language. The startup launched last year, just four months after Litman and Mallin sold their previous company, Magnet 360, to India-based Mindtree in a deal worth up to $50 million
This company targets small and mid-sized businesses, which use Inkit’s software to create and mail printed materials such as postcards. Inkit negotiates deals with printing companies so businesses can skip that step in the process, saving them time and hassle. The startup was founded by Michael McCarthy and Abram Isola, an early engineer at Leadpages.
Through its artificial intelligence-enabled platform, Automagical turns existing blog posts into marketing videos, which allows business to customize and re-share content in a different form.
A digital learning platform that helps businesses create education strategies for various audiences. The Big Know was founded by Don Smithmier, CEO of local innovation/consultation group GoKart Labs. The company raised a $3 million Series A last year in a round lead by Wayzata-based LFE Capital.
