Gigya, a SaaS-based platform connecting brands to permission-based consumer identity and behavior data, has raised $25 million in funding led by Greenspring Associates, bringing its investment total to $70 million, the company said.
Before the latest round, Gigya had raised $45 million to date from a number of investors since its founding in 2006, including Benchmark Capital, Advance Publications, Mayfield Fund, DAG Ventures and others. Gigya CEO Patrick Salyer said Greenspring Associates was “the No. 1 investor in ExactTarget before the acquisition by Salesforce.com and they really have a lot of applicable experience in this space.”
“This round is really a significant growth stage around … [becoming] a large, independent company that can be around 5,10, 15 years from now and seize market opportunity,” Salyer said. “We wanted to bring on a partner that knew the space we were going after well — SaaS marketing.”
In addition to using the funds to expand its offering, Gigya’s Connected Consumer Management Suite, the company plans to grow its 230-employee base to at least 300 by early next year, Salyer said. The company now has 700 customers, including the NFL, CBS, Barnes & Noble, Pepsi and the PGA.
He added, “For us, the NEXUS program is critical because it’s how you actually use and leverage data. That’s something we’ll be spending a lot of time on over the next six months.”
Over the past few months, Gigya has inked alliances with Amazon and Google to, in the case of Google, enable Google+ sign-in to a host of Gigya client properties. Using Gigya’s Social Login functionality, Fox Broadcasting, for example, was able to authenticate users for its AmericanIdol.com property using their Google+ IDs.
