OpenWeb explained

OpenWeb
Type:Privately held company
Company Type:Private
Location:New York, NY
Country:United States
Area Served:Worldwide
Founder:Nadav Shoval
Roee Goldberg
Key People:Nadav Shoval (CEO)
Haim Sasson (President)
Tiffany Xingyu Wang (CMO)
Max Weiss (COO)
Yaron Blachman (CISO)
Rob Meadows(CTO)
Industry:Internet
Employees:400
Language:Multilingual
Current Status:Active

OpenWeb is a social engagement platform that builds online communities around digital content.[1] OpenWeb works with publishers to bring conversations back from social networks to publisher sites.

OpenWeb's technology allows publishers and online content creators to host and moderate comments sections, Polls, "Ask Me Anything"s, and Live Blogs. Their products also include a module that allows users to track topics, an insights dashboard, and several advertising modules.

History

The company was founded in 2015 as Spot.IM by Israeli software architects Nadav Shoval and Ishay Green.[2] Roee Goldberg joined as Co-Founder and COO in 2014.[3]

In 2016, Spot.IM raised $13 million from Index Ventures and AltaIR Capital, along with other notable technology investors, in a Series A round.[4]

In 2017, co-founder and CEO, Nadav Shoval, was inducted into the second annual Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 list.[5] In addition, the company finalized its Series C investment round of $25M, led by New York City-based fund - Insight Partners, Altair VC, and more.[6] [7]

In 2019, Spot.IM raised $25 million in Series D funding.[8] The new funding was led by previous investor Insight Partners along with Norma Investments, AltaIR Capital, Cerca and WGI Group.

In 2020, the company was renamed OpenWeb.[9]

In November 2021, OpenWeb raised a $150M Series E financing round which included investment from Insight Partners, Georgian, The New York Times Company, Samsung Next, Dentsu Ventures, Harel, Entrée Capital, Omer Cygler, and Scott Galloway. This round of investment pushed the company's valuation over $1 billion.[10] In November 2022, OpenWeb announced a Series F round of funding at $170M, valuing the company at over $1.5 billion.[11]

In February 2022, the company acquired Hive Media Group for a mix of cash and stock, with a total value of $60M.[12] In April 2022, OpenWeb acquired French advertising company Adyoulike for a mix of cash and stock, with a total value of $100M.[13] In January 2023, OpenWeb acquired personalization and monetization platform Jeeng.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Spot.IM Turns Any Site Into A Social Network TechCrunch. Shu. Catherine. 2017-07-05.
  2. Web site: Israeli Tech Start-up Spot.IM Enables Publishers To Turn Visitors Into a Community. 24 October 2014. Mediabistro. 28 October 2014. Krawitz, Alan.
  3. Web site: Who we are. 2020-06-25. OpenWeb. en.
  4. Web site: Spot.IM grabs $13 million to solve your website’s most pressing engagement problem. 2016-08-03. VentureBeat. 2017-07-05.
  5. News: Forbes Announces Second Annual Forbes Israel 30 Under 30 List, Highlighting the Accomplishments of 60 Game Changers from Across Israeli Society. Communications. Forbes Corporate. Forbes. 2017-07-05.
  6. News: Spot.IM Closes $25 Million Series C Led by Insight Venture Partners. 2017-11-29. MarketWatch. 2017-11-29.
  7. News: Spot.IM raises $25 million for a better comments section. TechCrunch.
  8. Web site: Spot.IM raises $25M to help publishers engage with readers. 2020-06-26. TechCrunch. en-US.
  9. Web site: Spot.IM is Now OpenWeb. PR Newswire. 2020-06-24.
  10. Web site: Fischer . Sara . 2021-11-09 . Exclusive: Backed by NYT, OpenWeb becomes a tech unicorn . 2022-04-20 . Axios . en.
  11. Web site: OpenWeb . OpenWeb Raises $170 Million In Series F as it Continues Rapid Expansion with $1.5 Billion Valuation . 2023-02-07 . www.prnewswire.com . en.
  12. Web site: OpenWeb Makes Strategic Acquisition of Hive Media Group, Providing More Value to Premium Publishers. PR Newswire. 2022-01-19.
  13. News: Graham . Megan . 2022-04-12 . OpenWeb, Which Aims to Help Publishers Connect With Their Readers, Buys French Ad Firm for $100 Million . en-US . Wall Street Journal . 2022-04-18 . 0099-9660.
  14. News: 2023-01-26 . OpenWeb Supercharges Community Economy with $100 Million Acquisition of Jeeng . en-US . PRNewswire . 2023-01-26.