BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ShopAdvisor, the shopping experience company for media, today announced that the company has closed a $5 million financing round led by Pittco Capital Partners, the private equity firm associated with the family office of AutoZone founder J.R. “Pitt” Hyde III. Additional investors in the round include Seavest Capital, Rationalwave Capital Partners, and prominent Boston-based investors Rob Soni and Bob Davoli. This round brings ShopAdvisor’s total funding raised to $7 million.
The company, which originally launched a mobile app used by more than 12 million consumers in need of a way to remember and track products for later, has evolved the app for businesses to bridge the gap that exists between publishers, their advertisers and retail partners. ShopAdvisor currently enables leading media companies including Condé Nast, TIME, Inc. and Hearst Corporation to provide a valuable shopping reader service for their tablet editions, at the same time allowing their advertisers to engage with these readers at all stages of their shopping journey – from the moment of discovery, through consideration, to purchase.
“In an environment where editorial content and brand advertising are both valued by readers who shop, it seems natural to provide a way for featured brands and their retail partners to engage with those readers throughout the entire shopping cycle,” said Scott Cooper, CEO of ShopAdvisor. “This funding will help us expand our offerings across a broader set of publishers and media platforms, delivering an innovative new service that can finally close the loop between media companies, their advertisers and retail.”
ShopAdvisor intends to use its new capital to:
- Expand beyond its deep engagement on the tablet to include cross-platform programs across all media channels;
- Build additional product functionality suited to the types of products that appear in consumer media, especially fashion, health and beauty, home furnishings, consumer electronics and sporting goods;
- Invest in sales, marketing and business development to build the ShopAdvisor brand into a nationally recognized technology provider.
“The ShopAdvisor team initially attracted our attention by creating a highly successful mobile experience that matched today’s natural consumer shopping behavior. Now, the company is extending that same approach to the $40 billion dollar US magazine publishing industry to strengthen the relationship between publishers and their readers, and their advertising and retail partners. We are excited to become a part of the team,” said Andrew Seamons, managing director at Pittco Capital Partners.
About ShopAdvisor
With ShopAdvisor, readers directly
interact with magazine advertising and editorial content across their
media platforms of choice to learn about, be reminded of, or purchase
their favorite products. For publishers, ShopAdvisor closes the loop
between media and retail, deepening reader engagement, enhancing
advertising ROI and generating new revenue.
Founded in 2011 and based in Boston, Mass., ShopAdvisor also offers consumer apps for iPhone, iPad, Android and the Web. For more information, visit www.shopadvisor.com.
