Local Net Marketer MerchantCircle Raises $10 Million Second Round; IAC Invests
Palo Alto-based , a provider of marketing tools for online local marketing, has raised a $10 million second round from previous investors Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners and Disney’s Steamboat Ventures along with new investors IAC and Square 1 Bank. IAC actually tipped this, mentioning MerchantCircle as an investment asset when it detailed its split on Monday. According to Dealbook, MerchantCircle did a $4.1 million first round two years ago, making a total amount raised of $14.1 million. The company offers local advertisers a way to build up their web presence, write blogs, distribute coupons, and improve their search engine rankings. MerchantCircle claims it has 300,000 customers, although Valleywag notes that the company’s business practices have been controversial, as some accuse it of engaging in spam. With the funding, MerchantCircle plans to pursue acquisitions. Release.
MerchantCircle recently crossed 500,000 members. We’re proud to help local businesses acquire customers by offering an alternative to over-priced, ineffective offline marketing channels. We’ve been interviewing our merchants in all 50 states – you can read about their MerchantCircle experience here: http://www.visualcv.com/merchantcircle.
We’re committed to providing every local business a web presence, easy-to-use marekting tools and a platform for connecting with other merchants, all for free. As always, please email any questions or concerns to support@merchantcircle.com and we will respond as soon as possible.