Mobile Commerce Platform Branding Brand Raises $9.5M Series B

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Branding Brand, the largest mobile commerce platform to major retailers, today announced that it has secured $9.5 million in Series B funding led by existing investor Insight Venture Partners. The round also includes repeat investment from CrunchFund and Lead Edge Capital, along with new participation from eBay Enterprise. This brings the company's total funding up to $17 million.

Branding Brand will use the investment to scale sales, marketing, and operations. Since its Series A investment last year, the company experienced 100 percent year-over-year growth--something it has achieved since inception--and was recently named to Inc. magazine's Inc. 500 list. It also made numerous key hires, including Jeffrey R. Hennion, former Executive Vice President, Chief Marketing Officer, at GNC and Dick's Sporting Goods, as President; Bibhash Das, former Senior Director, Account Management, Americas, at Adobe, as Vice President, Client Services; and John Disarlo, former Senior National Sales Leader at V.me by Visa, as Vice President, Business Development.

"We are growing our team, as well as our reach," said Chris Mason, Branding Brand co-founder and CEO. "With nearly $1 billion in transactions running through our platform, and our recent expansion into hospitality and transportation, it is a very exciting time."

"We recognized the opportunity and vision for Branding Brand earlier in the company's evolution, and given their strong momentum, we are delighted to lead this new financing," said Ryan Hinkle, Managing Director at Insight Venture Partners. "The Branding Brand team has shown tremendous innovation and thought leadership in the rapidly-evolving world of mobile enablement."

ABOUT BRANDING BRAND
Branding Brand powers mobile commerce sites and apps for over 200 of the world's leading retailers, including American Eagle Outfitters, Costco, and Ralph Lauren. Founded in 2008 by three friends from Carnegie Mellon University, the company launched a mobile platform at the end of 2009 to seamlessly extend brands into optimized experiences for smartphones, tablets, and in-store. It is now the largest m-commerce provider to the Internet Retailer Top 500. For more information, visit http://www.brandingbrand.com.

ABOUT INSIGHT VENTURE PARTNERS
Insight Venture Partners is a leading private equity and venture capital firm focused on the global software, Internet and data-services industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $7.6 billion and made more than 190 investments. Insight has a successful two-team structure: its investment team evaluates thousands of companies globally each year; its Insight Onsite team of consultants works with growth-stage management to provide resources and advice to allow them to achieve long-term success. For more information, visit http://www.insightpartners.com.

SOURCE Branding Brand