| Sitebrand Corporation | |
| Location City: | Gatineau, Quebec |
| Location Country: | Canada |
| Industry: | Online marketing |
| Founder: | Justin Shimoon |
| Founded: | in Ottawa |
| Fate: | Acquired by Cactus Commerce |
| Homepage: | www.sitebrand.com on Internet Archive |
| Type: | Creditor protection |
Sitebrand was an online marketing company based in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada.[1] Sitebrand created technology which assisted its clients in expanding the number of purchases of customers who click on advertisement links.[2] [3] One of its biggest clients was Roots Canada.[1]
Sitebrand was founded in 2000 by Justin Shimoon, who had previously worked at Nortel.[4] Originally based in Ottawa, the company relocated to Gatineau in September 2002.[4] In August 2000, investors gave the company $1million, of which 75% came from private an angel investors and 15% came from venture capital.[4] It created InSite, a software it offered for an annual fee of $20,000 to $60,000, that conducts a review of how people access websites and tries to use bargains to lure them.[5] In June 2008, the company was listed on the TSX Venture Exchange and had 40 employees.[6]
In 2008, the company was acquired by Pretium Capital for $5.1 million in a reverse takeover.[1] In December 2008, Sitebrand partnered with email service provider Silverpop to enhance their email product offering to online marketers.[7]
In 2010, Sitebrand obtained creditor protection.[8] Chris Corman, who had taken over as CEO from Shimoon in 2009, resigned.[9] The company had difficulty becoming profitable over the years.[9] While Corman had initially been able to increase sales and decrease expenses, by December 2010 experienced substantial losses in its revenue.[9] During the Great Recession, the company laid off employees.[10]
On February 17, 2011, Cactus Commerce acquired all assets of Sitebrand.com.[11] On October 24, 2011, Sitebrand formally changed its name to Marchwell Ventures. It raised approximately $1 million in a private placement. It transferred its shares from the TSX Venture Exchange to the NEX.[12]