New York-based NewsCred, a self-described content marketing tech provider, today announced that it’s raised $20 million in additional debt and equity funding led by InterWest Partners, with participation from strategic partner Dentsu, Escalate Capital Partners, and existing backers. The fresh capital follows a $42 million series D round in September 2015 and brings the company’s total raised to $100 million, and cofounder and CEO Shafqat Islam said it’ll be used to accelerate NewsCred’s R&D investment, broaden its integration stack, expand its field operations, and bolster its ability to support new and existing customers.
“Not only do we have the most invested capital in the category, but we are also the largest in terms of revenue. Our traction in the enterprise market is a testament to the confidence that customers have in our business as well as our mission,” said Islam, who cofounded NewsCred in 2008 with Asif Rahman and Iraj Islam. “The future is bright, and we are excited to continue supporting our customers in pioneering a new, modern era of marketing.”
NewsCred — which began life as a credibility-ranking platform for news consumers before pivoting to online newspaper creation and subsequently newswire-like services — offers a suite of tools and services aimed at fostering the ideation, planning, governance, and auditing of marketing and support content. The company connects brands with freelance writers and provides software they can use to plan and manage ongoing campaigns, with the ultimate goal of unifying disparate marketing efforts.
Above: NewsCred
Image Credit: NewsCred
NewsCred hosts a marketplace of original and licensable blog posts, videos, infographics, presentations, articles, and images from more than 2,800 publishers that integrates with content management systems and social media platforms, and it offers advisory services across governance, distribution, channel optimization, customer journeys, search engine optimization, and site builds. Within its web-based dashboards, teams can manage the production of multiformat content and track metrics like engagement and conversions, or conduct keyword and topic research to identify trending topics.
The company now counts among its hundreds of clients in over 70 countries big-name brands like JP Morgan Chase, Panasonic, Cisco, Grainger, Twitter, Bank of America, Johnson & Johnson, GE, HSBC, and Conagra. In September 2015, NewsCred claimed that 40% of the Fortune 2,000 used its products.
“We believe that content marketing platforms are equipped to become the strategic centerpiece for modern marketing organizations,” said CEO Islam. “By bridging the gap from campaign planning to content creation, providing tools to streamline execution, and surfacing analytics across operational efficiency and campaign performance, we are empowering global marketing organizations to transform how they work, deliver exceptional content, and elevate the impact of their marketing efforts.”
One thing’s for sure: NewsCred occupies a profitable niche. According to a recent study published by Markets and Markets, the content marketing software market could be worth as much as $9.59 billion by 2023 (up from $4.12 billion in 2018).