Retail brand management business Soci has assembled $115m to date from investors including Stanford University's Daper Fund.

Soci, a US-based retail brand reputation software publisher backed by Stanford University’s Daper Fund, has completed an $80m series D round led by growth equity firm JMI Equity. Venture capital firm Ankona Capital provided a share of the capital, as did Afif Khoury, co-founder and chief executive of Soci, and Doug Winter, founder and chief executive of Seismic. Founded in 2012, Soci runs a software platform used by more than 350 enterprises to organise online marketing targeted to local areas on platforms such as search engines and customer review websites. The software is equipped to help national chains vary their marketing output for individual outlets. Soci claims to have added more than 100 new customers in 2020, which together operate 30,000 business locations. The funding is anticipated to support Soci’s growth plans through product development, strategic M&A activity and building up its sales and marketing operation. Soci obtained closed a $15m series C round in January 2020 co-led by Vertical Venture Partners, Grayhawk Capital and Ankona Capital that featured Blossom Street Ventures, bringing its total funding to $35m. The round came on the back of a $10.5m series B closed in 2018 that was led by Vertical Venture Partners with contributions from Grayhawk Capital, Blossom Street Ventures and Tallwave Capital. Soci had already closed an $8.5m series A round in 2017 co-led by Vertical Venture Partners and Grayhawk Capital and backed by Stanford University’s Daper Fund, Peninsula Ventures and Tallwave Capital.

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