NEWS

WIRES

OTHER

Balihoo Secures $5 Million in New Funding to Fuel Business Expansion and Continue Record Growth

"This investment validates our strategy of aggressive growth and innovation to help national brands maintain visibility and optimize sales at the local level," said Pete Gombert, CEO of Balihoo. "OpenView Venture Partners has an amazing track record of helping successful companies like Balihoo take it to the next level, and we're pleased to continue our close relationship with them as Balihoo's momentum strengthens as we head into another great year."

In the 2011 Hype Cycle for Marketing Automation, Gartner managing vice-president Kimberly Collins wrote, "In 2010, marketing automation moved from a 'nice to have' to a 'must have.'" Gartner projects the marketing automation market to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 12.4% 2010-2015 (The Gartner CRM Vendor Guide, 2012).

Additionally, brand usage of local marketing automation platforms is expected to nearly double in 2012, according to the 2011 CMO Council Report, Localize to Optimize, (For industry data about the trends driving local marketing automation adoption, view and download the infographic - "The Local Web: The Single Largest Opportunity for National Brands" - by visiting http://balihoo.com/thanks/local-web-infographic.)

Kohler, Pearle Vision, Geico, and 1-800DOCTORS.com are among the growing number of national brands using Balihoo's local marketing automation platform for raising visibility and increasing sales through local outlets such as dealers, agents, distributors, retailers and franchisees. The new financing from OpenView Venture Partners and Highway 12 will support Balihoo's continued growth as the company expands its customer base of national insurance, manufacturing, and healthcare clients, while also reaching into untapped market segments that can benefit from local marketing automation solutions.

"Balihoo's management and product teams have developed a unique solution that makes Balihoo a leader in an underserved market with huge growth potential," said Scott Maxwell, senior managing director and founder of OpenView Venture Partners. "The company's local marketing automation platform provides a turnkey solution for national brands to build a stronger brand and sales presence in local markets."

Balihoo has appeared on the INC 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies List in 2011 and 2010. The company also won the 2010 Red Herring 100 North American Award and was named by Gartner Research as a 2010 "Cool Vendor" in marketing technology. Learn more about Balihoo at www.balihoo.com.

About Balihoo

Balihoo is the premier provider of Local Marketing Automation (LMA) technology and services to national brands with local marketing needs. By automating local marketing, Balihoo gives national brands unprecedented control over local marketing execution and the ability to control the customer experience closer to the point of purchase. Additional information about Balihoo is available at www.balihoo.com.

About OpenView Venture Partners

OpenView Venture Partners is an expansion stage venture capital fund with a focus on high-growth software, Internet and technology-enabled companies. Through its staff of seasoned operating executives, who collectively bring several decades of technology and management experience to the firm, OpenView is able to help portfolio companies with quickly ramping up Product, Go-To-Market, and Organizational and Operational functions to best practice levels. Founded in 2006, the firm has a total of $240 million under management. OpenView Venture Partners is based in Boston and invests on a worldwide basis. OpenView recently released OpenView Labs, an idea site for senior managers at expansion stage technology companies. For more information, please visit OpenView Labs directly.

About Highway 12 Ventures

Highway 12 Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm focused on investments in the most promising high-growth companies in the rocky mountain region. For more information, please visit www.highway12ventures.com.

Balihoo PR Contact:
Topaz Partners
Tom Francoeur, 781-404-2405
tfrancoeur@topazpartners.com