Insightpool, a startup that helps companies identify and connect with their target audience online, is announcing that it has raised $4 million in Series A funding.
At first, the concept might seem similar to other services that identify valuable social media influencers, brand advocates, or what have you. However, CEO Devon Wijesinghe told me that Insightpool differs in some big ways.
For one thing, Insightpool isn’t just looking for influencers, but for the audience that’s likely to perform the desired action, whether it’s sharing something on social media, signing up for a webinar, or watching a video. Then it recommends the right message at the right time that’s most likely to result in a conversion.
To do that, Wijesinghe said Insightpool has developed an algorithm that can look at 60 different variables to classify your potential audience into different categories, for example people who are likely to share brand-related sports content, and it makes recommendations accordingly. Companies can launch their social media campaigns directly from Insightpool, or they can plug the technology into their existing social media management systems.
Customers include Coca-Cola, Cox Communications, Time Warner, General Mills, DocuSign, and Demandbase. For example, Insightpool says that when DocuSign used its technology to promote a webinar, it resulted in a 7x increase in engagement with DocuSign’s target audience, and more than 500 additional webinar attendees.
The new funding round was led by TDF Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank, with participation from Checkfree founder Peter Kight, Steve Chamberlain, Weather Channel COO Chris Walters, and former Turner Entertainment President Steve Koonin. Wijesinghe said the money will go towards building a mobile app, as well as version 2.0 of the Insightpool platform, which could get the company more involved in the advertising side of these efforts.
The company previously raised a $500,000 seed round.
image from Insightpool’s demo video, viewable on the company homepage