Hootsuite Picks Up $50 Million Investment from CIBC Innovation Banking
One of Canada’s most notable tech companies has announced a massive new round of capital.
Hootsuite has unveiled a credit financing agreement with CIBC Innovation Banking worth up to $50 million USD in growth capital. The social media management platform also announced that it has surpassed the 16 million user mark and that it is used by over 80 per cent of Fortune 1000 companies.
“This financing is a testament to the strong fundamentals behind Hootsuite and our ongoing commitment to innovation and growth as the clear leader in social media management,” said Greg Twinney, CFO of Hootsuite. “The additional capital will help us scale even faster to bring the most innovative products and partnerships to market globally and help our customers strategically build their brands, businesses and customer relationships with social.”
The new funding will allow Hootsuite to continue their expansion out of North America and into Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America. They will also further verticalize the platform offering for industries like financial services, governments, and healthcare. Finally, Hootsuite will invest in their own ecosystem through new partnerships and integrations.
CIBC Innovation Banking launched early this year as a one-stop shop for tech clients that offered wealth management, funding and more. It is targeted at any kind of company, from startup to IPO-ready organizations. Clearly, Hootsuite is on the latter end of that spectrum.
“Social media continues to proliferate and grow as a strategic tool for organizations across the globe to engage with their diverse clients and stakeholders,” said Mark McQueen, president and executive managing director of CIBC Innovation Banking. “Helping companies innovate in order to meet their clients’ ever-evolving needs is core to our mission as we support them at all stages of their business, from startup, to global scale.”
Hootsuite has been on the leading edge of social media integration, recently unveiling the deepest integration on the market for Instagram, the fastest growing social media platform in the world.
“This financing allows Hootsuite in continuing to create strong value for customers looking to unlock the power of social,” said Ryan Holmes, CEO of Hootsuite.
Over the past year, Holmes launched the League of Innovators, a charity designed to mobilize young Canadian entrepreneurs from discovery to acceleration. Hootsuite also converted an acquisition of LiftMatrix into a social media ROI tool they called Impact, which allows users to see just how their social media is positively affecting a business.
Many were also rumouring Hootsuite for a possible IPO. The Vancouver company landed at the top of the 2018 Narwhal list—Canada’s version of a unicorn—which signifies the country’s most attractive private tech and healthcare companies.
