Zeta Global, a data and analytics service for marketers, has raised a whopping $140 million in a Series F round of funding from GPI Capital and “funds sponsored by” Franklin Square Capital Partners and sub-advised by GSO Capital Partners, the credit arm of Blackstone.
The round constitutes $115 million in equity capital and $25 million in debt financing, and takes the company’s total capital influx since its inception ten years ago past $250 million — $150 million in equity and $100 million in debt.
Founded out of New York in 2007 by former Apple and Pepsi CEO John Sculley and David A. Steinberg, Zeta Global offers a SaaS (software as a service) platform that meshes “strategy, analytics, and machine learning” to help brands acquire and retain customers. It basically combines big data and sophisticated data mining techniques to allow companies to unearth insights on their customers, thus improving their targeting and interaction and optimizing the return on their marketing investment.
“We are very bullish on the shift toward data-driven digital marketing,” explained Bill Royan, managing partner and chief investment officer of GPI Capital. “We believe that Zeta’s assets and capabilities make the company uniquely positioned to capitalize on this shift.”
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Royan will also join Zeta’s board of directors once the deal is closed.
The news comes as Zeta Global mulls an IPO that could come as soon as this year, as the company appointed a new chief financial officer (CFO) just a couple of months back, followed by Zeta’s first chief revenue officer a month later. The fresh financing will be used to fuel Zeta’s growth through “strategic acquisitions and investments in technology, operations and sales & marketing,” according to a statement issued by the company.
“It’s amazing to look back at where David and I first started when Zeta was created almost 10 years ago — ‘big data’ wasn’t even a term,” explained Sculley, whose only official title at the company is “cofounder.” “Today, Zeta Global is an outstanding and well-regarded technology platform, with a blue-chip client base and solid leadership team with the right DNA to continue our mission in providing the world’s leading brands the solutions they need to succeed in this rapidly changing, digitally driven marketing ecosystem.”
