OwnLocal explained
OwnLocal |
Type: | Technology |
Industry: | Advertising |
Founded: | Austin, Texas, United States |
Founder: | - Lloyd Armbrust
- Jason Novek
|
Location City: | Austin, Texas |
Location Country: | United States |
Key People: | - Lloyd Armbrust (CEO)
- Landon Morales (CRO)
|
Products: | |
OwnLocal is an Austin, Texas-based digital advertising startup founded in 2010.[1] [2] [3] [4]
History
Lloyd Armbrust and Jason Novek founded Seeing Interactive in 2010.[1] [5] [6] [7] Backed by seed accelerator Y-Combinator, the company launched as a service for local newspaper, TV, and Radio stations.[1] [4] [5] [8] After its launch, the startup raised $1 million in seed funding from various investors, including Lerer Ventures, Baseline Ventures, and angel investors Joshua Schachter and Paul Buchheit.[1] [9] The company changed its name to OwnLocal in March 2011.[10]
In October 2011, OwnLocal received an undisclosed amount from a funding round led by Automattic, the developer of WordPress.[3] [8] The incubator 500 Startups also participated in the funding. The round raised the company's total funding to $2 million.[2] [11]
OwnLocal was one of the first for-profit companies to receive funding from the Knight Enterprise Fund, a fund for media innovation.[2] [8] [11] The company also received an equity investment in February 2013 from Digital First Ventures for an undisclosed amount.[12]
Acquisitions
In May 2014, OwnLocal acquired Whoosh Traffic.[13] Whoosh Traffic was an Austin-based company that powered SEO reporting for large Fortune 500 companies and small businesses.[14] Whoosh was backed by Techstars, 500 Startups, and several other major technology investors.
OwnLocal acquired Sidengo on March 10, 2015.[15] Sidengo was an easy-to-use website builder for people with no design or technical skills. Sidengo was started in Monterrey, Mexico by Jorge González and Gabriel Garza.[16] As of March 2015, OwnLocal had integrated the Sidengo technology into their platform and planned to distribute the technology to their media partners.
OwnLocal acquired Inbound Press[17] in March 2016. Inbound Press was created in Orange County, California by Andrew McFadden. The company's flagship product, Smart Media Kit, is a proven process that generates new advertising leads for newspapers. OwnLocal had added Smart Media Kit to its product offerings[18] as of June 2016.
In 2017, OwnLocal acquired Wanderful Media.[19] [20]
Notes and References
- News: YComb's Seeing Interactive Raises Seed Round From Baseline, Buchheit, Schachter, and Lerer Ventures . . June 28, 2010 . August 27, 2013 . Schonfeld, Erick.
- Web site: OwnLocal raises funds to help save local news . . October 19, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Merino, Faith.
- Web site: The Company Behind WordPress Invests in Newspaper Toolmaker OwnLocal . . October 19, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Gannes, Liz.
- Web site: OwnLocal cleverly makes newspapers money with Web 2.0 tools . The Next Web . April 5, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Myers,Courtney Boyd.
- News: Y Combinator presents 26 new startups . . March 23, 2010 . August 27, 2013 . Bowman, Matt.
- 4 Megatrends In Social Media And Social Business . . December 20, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Shaughnessy, Haydn.
- Web site: OwnLocal . . August 27, 2013.
- Web site: Ownlocal scores funds to get small firms online . . October 19, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Johnson, Bobbie.
- Web site: Ad service Seeing Interactive raises USD1m in seed round . StrategyEye . June 29, 2010 . August 27, 2013.
- News: Seeing Interactive Changes Name To OwnLocal, Launches Hyper-Local Deals Network . . March 18, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Tsotsis, Alexia.
- News: Austin startup OwnLocal hits $2 million mark in venture capital . . October 25, 2011 . August 27, 2013 . Hawkins, Lori.
- Web site: OwnLocal Receives Equity Investment from Digital First Ventures . FinSMEs . February 19, 2013 . August 27, 2013.
- Web site: OwnLocal Acquires Whoosh Traffic . OwnLocal . May 21, 2014 . April 7, 2015 . Armbrust, Lloyd.
- Web site: Whoosh Traffic, Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek. www.bloomberg.com. 2016-08-16.
- Web site: OwnLocal Acquires Austin Tech Startup Sidengo . OwnLocal . March 10, 2015 . April 7, 2015 . Armbrust, Lloyd.
- Web site: Sidengo About Us . Sidengo . July 1, 2011 . April 7, 2015 . González, Jorge.
- Web site: OwnLocal Acquires Wanderful Media, Building Out Local Data Street Fight. Zappa. Joseph. June 9, 2017. streetfightmag.com. en-US. 2018-08-30.
- News: Austin digital ad agency OwnLocal continues growth with acquisition. Hawkins. Lori. February 7, 2017. 2018-08-30.
- Web site: OwnLocal acquires Wanderful, a local deal startup backed by newspaper giants. TechCrunch. en-US. 2020-04-01.
- Web site: OwnLocal acquires Wanderful, a local deal startup backed by newspaper giants. 2017-06-09. Silicon Valley. en-US. 2020-04-01.