18 March 2008 No Comment

IRVINE, Calif., March 17, 2008 - WebVisible, Inc., a global leader in local interactive advertising, announced today that it has received $12 million in series B funding led by Silicon Valley’s Sutter Hill Ventures with participation from existing investor Redpoint Ventures. In conjunction, Sutter Hill Ventures Managing Director Jim White will join WebVisible’s Board of Directors. WebVisible, whose robust software platform manages interactive advertising campaigns for small-to-medium-sized businesses around the world, will use the funds to achieve the next level of technology innovation, promote growth in its reseller channels, and increase sales penetration.   Additionally, the company will continue its international growth as sales partnerships surge throughout Europe with Asia Pacific and South America on the horizon.

“WebVisible’s comprehensive software platform and proven services solution are creating the online advertising standard for local merchants around the world,” White said. “Sutter Hill Ventures recognizes the global growth opportunities and importance of the local online advertising space. Our investment in WebVisible acknowledges their market leadership and innovation in interactive advertising technology solutions.”

WebVisible’s proprietary, patent pending software platform has changed the way local businesses buy advertising on the Web. Intelligently matching local businesses and local consumers searching and interacting online from Google and Yahoo! to blogs and wireless devices, WebVisible automates the manual process of buying interactive advertising for its customers. The company’s global partners in the yellow pages, newspaper, and online marketing industries sell Webvisible-enabled interactive advertising products to their local business customers. WebVisible partners include AT&T, British Telecom, Yellow Pages Group of Canada, Earthlink, and The McClatchy Company, among others.

“This investment is a strong vote of confidence and allows us to expedite our growth in the global marketplace,” said WebVisible CEO, Kirsten Mangers. “WebVisible continues to be the industry’s most adopted private-label solution in customer acquisition - improving profitability and customer loyalty for our small business customers and reseller partners around the world.”
On a global scale, local online advertising will grow from $3.4 billion in 2005 to $13 billion in 2010, according to The Kelsey Group.

Sutter Hill Ventures has financed technology-based start-ups and assisted entrepreneurs in building market-leading companies since 1964. In 2008, Forbes magazine named Sutter Hill Venture’s Managing Director Jim White to its exclusive Forbes Midas 100 list.
“WebVisible is setting a standard for Orange County-based leading edge technology companies,” commented Gary Augusta, President and CEO of OCTANe, a Southern California-based venture capital and technology innovation development organization. “This investment round showcases the strong people, creative innovation, and world-class technology that are growing out of our local business community.”

Popularity: 13% [?]

Related posts

• Novell Delivers Open Collaboration with SiteScape Acquisition (0)
• Microsoft Announces Acquisition of Rapt (0)
• Avaya Unveils Industry’s Most Affordable Unified Communications (1)
• Astroturf Marketing Done Ethically (0)
• .NET IN DEMAND: The Search Continues for Skilled .NET Developers in Malaysia (0)