DataRank, a Fayetteville company that tracks and reports on social-media trends, has been acquired by analytics company Simply Measured, the companies said Tuesday.
The terms of the deal were not released.
DataRank's software sorts, prioritizes and organizes data on products on the basis of online comments and breaks down the information into market research reports. The company expanded its customer base by 150 percent over the past year and launched a new offering, DataRank Sonar, a social-media command center that delivers real-time visual updates on brands.
Plans are for DataRank, which employs 16, to remain in Northwest Arkansas and continue to expand its operations.
"We see this move as a success for the startup community here," said Ryan Frazier, DataRank's chief execuative. "It's a win for all the people that helped build DataRank."
In early 2014 DataRank received $1.4 million in seed funding from Bentonville-based NewRoad Ventures and others from Arkansas and from California's Silicon Valley. In 2013 Data-Rank was the first company from Arkansas to graduate from the Y-Combinator accelerator program in Silicon Valley. In 2012, Forbes named Y-Combinator the No. 1 technology incubator in the U.S.
Founded in 2010, Seattle-based Simply Measured helps marketers identify new opportunities, plan social-media campaigns, optimize activities for better results, and report on programs to prove their value, according to the company. It employs 130.
"Marketers need real social intelligence and research to discover new opportunities, understand online conversation, and take action," Adam Schoenfeld, CEO of Simply Measured said in a statement.
Simply Measured has been in acquisition mode recently. In September, the company scooped up Seattle-based social-media data startup, Inside Social. Simply Measured was ranked No. 365 in Inc. magazine's 2015 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in America, with total revenue of $12.6 million for 2014 and three-year revenue growth of 1,295 percent.
Jeff Amerine, CEO of Fayetteville-based Startup Junkie Consulting, said the acquisition of DataRank is further validation highly competitive digital companies can be built in Northwest Arkansas and the rest of the state.
Amerine pointed to WPP Digital's purchase of Rogers-based Rockfish Interactive in 2011; General Atlantic's gaining controlling interest in Fayetteville's Acumen Brands in 2013; along with the 2015 purchase of Atlas Technology Group in Bentonville by Advantage Sales and Marketing and Cree Inc's acquisition of Fayetteville-based Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc.
"Acquisitions/exits are the fuel that keep the venture ecosystem vital and vibrant by instilling confidence in the angel and venture investment crowd that exits are possible," Amerine wrote in response to email questions. "Best of all the acquiring companies all realize they need to build additional presence in Arkansas to serve the flagship customer opportunities right in our own backyard."
DataRank, formerly know as TTAGG, was founded in 2011 by Frazier of Hot Springs, along with Britt Cagnina of Bryant, Kenny Carson of Pocahontas and Chuong Nguyen of Rogers. The four met as students at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Cagnina is no longer with the company.
Business on 10/14/2015