Percolate snags $24M to turn brands into content marketing machines

Social media marketing startup Percolate just raised a $24 million round to scale its content management system (CMS) for marketing departments.

Sequoia Capital led the new round, with additional funds from existing investors GGV Capital, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures and multinational advertising company WPP. With fresh capital in hand, Percolate says it will add Sequoia partner Mike Dixon to its board of directors.

Percolate’s content management tools attempt to centralize the creation of branded content. Largely targeting social media, Percolate offers two tools: an app that helps brands source photography from employees, and an app that tasks employees to share brand-positive messages on social networks like Facebook.

The latter app, dubbed Percolate Employee, is not without controversy. When it was launched last month, we feared it could further sink social networks into a spammy pool of brand marketing nonsense. At the time, we said:

“It could quite literally lead to a 500 percent increase in SaaS-related shares on your aunt’s Facebook wall.”

However,the New York-based company’s plan to organize content creation and distribution appears well-received thus far. This new round will test Percolate’s mission; the company claims it plans to use the funds to “aggressively expand globally and further develop its platform.”

Percolate previously raised $10.5 million, bringing its total funding to $34.5 million.