Last week, Swirl Networks, provider of a proximity-based indoor mobile marketing platform, announced that it has raised $18 million in equity financing from Hearst Ventures, SoftBank Capital, Twitter Ventures and other strategic investors.
According to an announcement shared with MMW, the Series C round brings Swirl’s total funding to date to $32 million. The new capital will be used to expand Swirl’s sales and marketing operations and “to fuel aggressive investment in product innovation to meet accelerating demand from major retailers and brand advertisers for beacon-powered indoor mobile advertising.”
According to BI Intelligence, beacons will be deployed by 85 percent of the top 100 U.S. retailers by the end of 2016 and beacon marketing will influence $44B in retail sales.
“The caliber of strategic investors and partners in this round validates the immense potential that proximity-based indoor mobile marketing has to transform the advertising and retail landscapes,” said Hilmi Ozguc, CEO of Swirl. “Swirl is helping leading retailers, publishers and brand advertisers bridge the physical and digital worlds in a way that was never before possible. This new investment gives us unmatched resources to accelerate our efforts and extend our leadership position in this exciting space.”
