The MarTech Money Round-up: Feb. 23, 2016

By Heather Fletcher

Last week, new marketing technology (MarTech) that got funding included mobile analytics that helps marketers acquire customers, golf course-to-golfer communication software and lottery-ticket-esque MarTech that allows users to reveal hidden messages by scratching off what obscures them. To find out how close this MarTech is to coming onto the market, read on.

From Valentine’s Day to Feb. 20, investors picked the following MarTech for funding, according to PitchBook, a Seattle-based M&A, private equity and venture capital database:

Underground Elephant “provides marketing services and technology for large enterprises leveraging digital marketing in their customer acquisition strategy.” On Feb. 17, the San Diego-based, privately held company “received $9 million of debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank … [in order] to expand company's customer base and hire new people.”
Adbrain creates “a real time, multiscreen advertising platform [that is] … “an interface that allows advertising agencies and media buyers to create multiscreen advertising campaigns.” The London-based startup “raised $7.5 million of Series-A venture funding from lead investor Cisco Investments on Feb. 17. ... The company will use the funding for the business expansion in North America, mainland Europe and APAC, as well as to hire personnel in product development, marketing and sales.”
Qualia — formerly named LocalResponse, BUZZD — is the developer “of a SaaS-based marketing technology platform [that] … aggregates real-time social media check-ins from social networking services to provide an interface for local businesses to directly respond to customers.” The New York-based, venture capital-backed, later-stage startup “raised $5.5 million of Series-B venture funding from lead investors Verizon Communications and S3 Ventures on Feb. 16 ... The company will use the funding to accelerate growth of its intent signal and device graph, as well as continue to innovate on its targeting, optimization and attribution solution.”
Scratch-it’s “platform provides a hidden message that is revealed by scratching a digital image.” The Portland, Ore.-based, early stage VC startup “raised $500,000 [in] bridge financing out of a planned $1.23 million from undisclosed investors on Feb. 16 ... Previously, the company raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Portland Seed Fund and Seven Peaks Ventures on Dec. 8.”
YouAPPi’s “mobile user acquisition platform … provides [a] OneRun platform that combines the power of machine learning with predictive algorithms, and cohort technology to analyze the mobile content consumption patterns, converting data into profitable users.” The Israeli early stage VC “raised $13.1 million of Series B venture funding from Hawk Ventures, Global Brain and Click Ventures on Feb. 17 … [so it could] expand in China, Japan and other markets and enhance OneRun.”
ChronoGolf provides “an online platform for interactions between golf courses and golf players. The company offers Web applications, cloud infrastructure and mobility technologies for tee-time bookings and also offers cloud-based customer relationship management software tools for golf courses.” The Montréal-based VC startup is in its seed round of funding. On Feb. 15, “the company raised $1.5 million of Series A venture funding, [which] … will help the company further develop its leadership position as an all-in-one golf course management service and marketplace.”