Location-based customer profiling company Near has garnered $US100 million ($AU143 million) in a Series D funding from Greater Pacific Capital (GPC), in what is the largest investment ever made into a martech start-up.
Backed by Telstra and a strategic partner of NewsCorp’s NewsConnect, Near allows brands to track the physical behaviour of customers such as location and transactions through AI, within a privacy-led environment.
This allows marketers to see when customers have interacted with a brick-and-mortar store and the online store, for example.
Foxtel’s ad sales house MCN is also a client of Near’s.
“We are humbled that we were able to close one of the largest rounds in our industry. It is a testament to our offering backed by unique data-sets and powerful science,” said Near founder and CEO Anil Mathews.
“With the new funds, we will be investing heavily in data and engineering to launch a suite of new products, that’ll help strengthen our position in existing markets such as Australia and the US, and open up key strategic markets.
“We are a rare example of a true SaaS business focused on generating long-term customer value and sustainable revenues. We are the only company aggregating this quality and scale of data at a global level.”
The company’s Allspark offering has scaled Software as a Service revenue faster than any of its other products, according to Mathews.
Near hit $10 million in annual revenue after launching its first platform and has grown 100 per cent year on year over the past two years.
GPC CEO Ketan Patel said: “Near provides insights into human behaviour by analysing where people are, and combining that with a multitude of data points to predict and influence behaviour.
“Given it does this across the globe in a privacy-protected manner, it is well-positioned to create an exciting new space that delivers value to both people, and those that wish to build relationships with them.”
