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Venture Capital News: Wayin Adds $13.1M

2014-07-09
DENVER, CO, Wayin Adds $13.1 Million to Accelerate Social Data Platform.
Denver-based Wayin was co-founded and is chaired by former Sun Microsystems chief executive Scott McNealy and is led by a group of veteran technology, marketing and TV executives. The company experienced approximately 300% growth in 2013, driven by high-profile clients around the world. Wayin works closely with these clients through its network in the US, Asia, and Latin America.

The funding round was led by U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) with returning backers including Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati; distinguished Hollywood business man, Burt Sugarman; and CEO of Discovery Land Company, Mike Meldman among a list of notable individual investors. Wayin has now received a total of $33.1 million in funding.

'We are proud to be the lead investor in Wayin, and we look forward to working with this exceptional team as they innovate the future of social intelligence,' said Rick Lewis, General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners. 'We believe Wayin is providing unique value as one of the only companies with the enterprise-grade experience required to succeed with a truly big-data approach to social intelligence and commerce.'

Wayin is one of the only social tech platforms that is designed with enterprise-grade technology with an engineering team led by Jamey Wood, former Chief Product Architect at Sun Microsystems and staffed with experts such as John DiVirgilio, co-founder of Collective Intellect. Wayin helps global brands to quickly launch, run, monitor, and measure social media marketing efforts and make more from activations on all social platforms.

'This is a seminal moment for Wayin and we are honored to have such tremendous support from our existing investors as they doubled down on us,' says Elaine Feeney Wood, CEO of Wayin. 'Our investors believe that we have the right team, technology and strategic relationships at a key time in this evolving industry to establish Wayin as a dominate force in the social ecosystem.'

The company will use the $13.1 million investment to expand its reach to TV networks, brands, agencies and publishers around the globe and ramp up engineering to support its technology roadmap. A sample of Wayin's diverse international customers include The Weather Channel, LG, MTV Latin America, Movistar, Entel, San Jose Sharks, Logitech, Emory University, Times Now India, Joyce Boutique, Thrive Church and more.

Wayin continues to be well positioned to take advantage of the rapid growth in the social intelligence and display space and is building a winning team consisting of many Sun Microsystems alumni and an expanded executive roster with seasoned executives from television, marketing, and other key industries. Following its acquisition of Comenta TV earlier this year, Wayin is poised to take an aggressive lead in the global social TV landscape. The company has also rolled out a rebrand which is accompanied by a new experience for customers already using Wayin, including a large number of Fortune 500 companies.

About Wayin
Wayin is a social intelligence and display company that integrates social content into new experiences for consumers and delivers greater value and control for brands. Wayin provides the ability to aggregate, curate, integrate and measure social content and data in real-time. Its solutions make it possible for companies of all sizes to extend and derive new value from their social marketing and communication efforts. Dedicated to bringing clarity to every aspect of social business, Wayin clients include leading global brands, sports teams, TV networks and advertising agencies.

Started by Scott McNealy, the former Sun Microsystems co-founder and CEO, Wayin is led by Elaine Feeney Wood and other key Sun Microsystems alumni, as well as top digital and media industry veterans. Wayin is based in Denver with offices in NYC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. It also has an international presence in Japan, Argentina, Brazil and Hong Kong.
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