Percolate scores $40M so marketers can have one place to work

Marketing platform Percolate is announcing today a $40 million score so it can continue its life’s mission of serving as “the System of Record” for marketers.

The problem to be solved, the New York City-based company says, is that the average Fortune 500 company uses over four dozen software tools to manage more than 40 different marketing-related communication channels.

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Its platform is designed to reduce that number to something closer to one, by being the operational tool for file management, campaign planning, content and creative production, distribution, analytics, team collaboration, and implementation.

“IT has Oracle and ServiceNow, HR has WorkDay, sales has Salesforce, but no similar system [existed] in marketing,” president and cofounder James Gross told me via email.

Before using Percolate, he said, GE had its planning and creation in silos; for example, different marketing teams worked with various outside agencies through their own channels.

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There was no way to see “here’s what GE is doing in marketing over the next week, month, quarter,” Gross said. Resources were often duplicated or not shared, and successful campaigns in one region might be unknown in another.

By centralizing around Percolate, he said, there’s easier synchronization across brand standards, campaigns, workflows, file management, calendars, and communications. The result, he said, increases marketing’s return-on-investment, reduces operating costs, and keeps “the brand more consistent and safe.”

The company said hundreds of brands use its platform, including seven of the 10 largest consumer packaged goods companies.

Percolate differs from enterprise social media management, content management, and digital asset management tools commonly employed by marketers, according to Gross, because of its intention to break down silos and establish one environment.

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The funding, which brings the total raised to $74.5 million, will be used for expanding the staff in the San Francisco office, as well as for international expansion and exploring strategic acquisitions.

The series C round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital, GGV Capital, First Round Capital, and Lerer Hippeau Ventures.