[X+1] gets funding

X+1] gained $10 million in a second round of financing, with investors led by Intel Capital, the global investment arm of Intel Corp. Existing investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Blue Chip Venture Co. and Hudson Venture Partners also participated. [X+1] said it will invest in its digital marketing hub, which drives multichannel audience targeting.

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20110106/FREE/301069996/centro-x-1-gain-funding

Centro gains funding

Centro, in its first-ever round of funding, raised $22.5 million from investment firm FTV Capital. Centro said it will invest the funds in its Transis media-buying software, which debuted last March. The company added that it will increase the size of its sales force.

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20110106/FREE/301069996/centro-x-1-gain-funding

Millennial Media Raises $27.5M to Go Up Against Google, Apple

With nearly $30 million in new funding, it looks like No. 3 mobile advertising network Millennial Media is going to stay solo for now -- even though its major competitors are Google and Apple.

The 4-year-old mobile ad network says it tripled revenue in 2010, which was a banner year for mobile advertising across the board. While a spokeswoman declined to provide specific revenue figures, research firm IDC puts Millennial's gross revenue for 2010 at $60 million. That places Millennial third in U.S. mobile display with 15.4% market share behind Google's 19% and Apple's 18.8%.

The Baltimore-based company today has announced an additional $27.5 million in growth equity funding, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Columbia Capital and Charles River Ventures. That brings funding to date to $65 million.

Under CEO Paul Palmieri, the company plans to build out its 2010 acquisition TapMetrics, an analytics company, and pursue further deals with the new round. While smartphone leaders Google and Apple have bought up mobile ad networks, rumors have circulated that Microsoft, which is lagging in the mobile ads race, has been eying Millennial for acquisition.
The funding is yet another sign that mobile ads will continue to grow at a rapid clip into 2011.

The mobile ad market got a jump start more than a year ago when Google and Apple acquired mobile ads networks Admob and Quattro Wireless, respectively. That momentum is expected to continue into 2011 -- the U.S. mobile advertising market is expected to hit $1 billion for the first time in 2011, according to eMarketer.

MWW Group Completes Management Led Buy-Out From Interpublic Group

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/MWW-Group-Completes-prnews-3449274446.html?x=0&.v=1
Led by Founder and CEO Michael W. Kempner, the buy-out occurs ten years following the original sale of MWW to IPG and returns the firm to its status as one of the nation's five largest independent public relations agencies. The buy-out also includes the purchase of MWW's Financial Relations Board, a national leader in investor relations and financial communications for more than 45 years.

MWW is one of the nation's top full service agencies and one of the largest mid-sized firms with industry-leading practice areas in corporate communications, consumer marketing, public affairs and government relations, and deep expertise in digital and social media, sustainability, social innovation, healthcare and technology. The buy-out enables the firm to capitalize on the growth opportunities presented by the dynamic changes in the public relations industry by providing a nimble, entrepreneurial management framework that enables investment in key growth areas including digital and social media – an area where MWW has been a leader since becoming one of the first public relations agencies to establish a formal digital media practice in January of 2005.

Context Optional Acquires Buzzeo, Leading Platform for Creating Facebook Applications

http://www.contextoptional.com/company/press-releases/3090-press-release-context-optional-acquires-buzzeo-leading-platform-for-creating-facebook-applications

Context Optional, the social marketing company, today announced the acquisition of unwrap, inc., makers of Buzzeo. The move expands Context Optional’s leadership position in providing comprehensive social marketing solutions for brands. The Buzzeo platform enables companies to engage customers on Facebook with a variety of easy-to-deploy applications including e-commerce virtual goods, polls and product listings, among others. The company’s app platform is a natural complement to Context Optional’s Social Marketing Suite, a highly customizable, feature-rich SaaS solution that integrates publishing, moderation, analytics and app-building into a single tool. As part of the acquisition, the Buzzeo team, including co-founders Waynn Lue and Joshua Reeves, will be joining Context Optional and taking on leadership roles in product development, marketing and engineering. Buzzeo will remain a standalone product and now be offered to customers free of charge.

Involver Celebrates 100,000 Customers with $8 Million Series C Funding Round

Involver Inc., the web’s most widely used social-media platform, announced today that it has surpassed 100,000 customers and closed an $8M series C funding round, led by venture firm Bessemer Venture Partners. Existing investors Cervin Ventures and Western Technology Investment also participated. The new capital will be used to fuel Involver’s growth initiatives and continue to expand the company’s social marketing platform.
http://www.involver.com/press-releases/oct-14-2010/

Forrester: 2011: Now Social Media Marketing Gets Tough

New social spam filters will stop many of your tweets and status updates from reaching consumers
Growing mistrust will make it harder to gather friends and followers or get them engaged in your social programs
The most successful marketing programs won’t be contained within Facebook
http://blogs.forrester.com/augie_ray/11-01-04-2011_social_media_predictions_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough
http://www.forrester.com/rb/Research/2011_now_social_media_marketing_gets_tough/q/id/57771/t/2