Chicago based Sprout Social recently filed to go public.
Last week, Sprout Social subtly filed paperwork to go public and raise $100 million. It will be the first Chicago-based software firm to go public this year. With more and more businesses engaging with their customers and potential customers through social media, it’s not surprising that more than 23,000 companies turn to Sprout Social to help them create authentic connections via their favorite social media platform. The company has seen consistent subscription revenue growth but has yet to turn a profit as it continues to invest in expanding its market share around the world. With more than 500 employees, Sprout Social is leading the way for Chicago to emerge as a leader in marketing technology software.
Joining Chicago’s push to be a dominant global MarTech hub is ActiveCampaign. This Chicago-based marketing technology company that has long been under the radar, which is interesting since it helps more than 85,000 businesses in 158 countries meaningfully engage with their customers. The company was founded in 2003 and fully transitioned to a SaaS solution in 2016, at which time its success really took off.
Like many, ActiveCampaign prides itself on being bootstrapped and having a low profile, with a goal of simply aiming to get it right for their customers. This capital-efficient approach has allowed the company to invest heavily in R&D and customer success. As a result of its rapid growth, the company has attracted top talent from the coasts to help it scale to new heights. Unsurprisingly, G2 recognized ActiveCampaign as one of the top companies in marketing automation and the number one B2B software company in Chicago.
And MarTech recognition doesn’t end there. If you dig into G2’s impressive list of top 50 Chicago-based B2B tech companies (based on top-rated products), you’ll find a host of firms. The list illustrates the depth and breadth of marketing solutions for customers ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mom-and-pop businesses in rural America. I’ve highlighted a few below.
Closely behind ActiveCampaign on the list is a small but no less interesting company, GMass, which helps send effective email marketing campaigns inside Gmail. Not far behind is Centro, founded in 2001, which is known for its marketing solution, Basis. According to the company’s website, Basis “is the most comprehensive media automation and intelligence platform in the industry—and the only platform to support the planning, reporting, and financial reconciliation of direct, programmatic, search, and social media, all in one place.” In 2019, Basis received a leader badge for Demand Side Platform (DSP), i.e. advertiser campaign management products.
Other notable mentions include 4C, a cross-channel advertising software that’s focused on video-centric marketing. 4C’s CMO, Aaron Goldman, has shared that the company is now powering over $2 billion in annual advertising and is “still just scratching the surface.”
ReviewTrackers is software that is used to measure and transform the customer experience, something increasingly relevant nowadays. While Popular Pays deals with an equally relevant category: social media content creation. The premise of Popular Pays is to easily connect businesses, namely advertisers, with talented content creators and influencers. At the end of last year, the company raised an additional $1.1 million in series B funding on top of $5.5 million raised earlier in the year, bringing its total raised to $12.6 million since its launch in 2013 (my firm is an investor). Further proof that being popular pays, especially in the rapidly growing industry of influencer marketing.
If all of this tells us anything, it’s that the Windy City has quietly become a hub for marketing technology firms to open up shop. And chances are this trend will only continue. Not only is Chicago home to some of the nation’s top tech talent, but marketing technology is also increasing in demand as customer data and the ways in which brands connect with their customers become increasingly important. With so much opportunity for the taking, It will be interesting to watch this market continue to grow and evolve over the next few years, in Chicago and the Midwest.
