LONDON – SEPTEMBER 27 – Betapond, a leading provider of Facebook marketing technology with offices in London, Dublin, Waterford and San Jose, today announced it has acquired Tech City‐based iPlatform, the UK’s first Facebook preferred developer.
The combined company will offer global brands and their agencies greater scale and depth of resources for developing innovative Facebook integrations.
“This acquisition gives Betapond a deeper pool of engineering talent and increases our scale in London,” said Declan Kennedy, Betapond co-founder and chief executive. “The iPlatform team brings a depth of experience and talent that will allow us to offer brands a competitive edge in advanced Facebook marketing.”
“We started iPlatform in 2008 because we believed that the Facebook platform was the most genuine way for companies to engage with their customers,” said iPlatform co‐founder Joshua March. “Since then we’ve worked with hundreds of brands to help them deliver Facebook campaigns in the most engaging and social way possible. Betapond is uniquely positioned to help take the iPlatform vision and team to the next level, and we’re excited to be supporting their fast expansion in the UK.”
Betapond will grow to 30 London‐based employees in 2013.
“Having scale in London, a global hub for marketing innovation and the European base for so many global brands, is vital,“ added Kennedy. “Marketers in London demand the best and most sophisticated Facebook marketing techniques. With the iPlatform team on board, Betapond is in a stronger position to meet that demand.”
The combined cash and stock transaction is the first acquisition by Betapond. Betapond closed a €1.15 million round of venture capital funding in January 2012.
Commenting on the acquisition, Benjamin Southworth, Deputy CEO of Tech City Investment Organisation, said: “This acquisition is hugely exciting news. To see a home-grown Tech City company such as iPlatform achieve such success shows the potential of our tech community here in the UK. It’s going from strength to strength.”
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “I was delighted to learn of iPlatform’s acquisition by Betapond. That a Tech City start-up company like iPlatform has enjoyed such a prolific rise in the sector confirms that London’s burgeoning tech hub is not only a world leader but can also be considered world class.”
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ABOUT BETAPOND
Betapond, founded in 2009, is a venture backed Facebook marketing technology company with offices in London, Dublin, Waterford and San Jose. A Facebook Preferred Marketing Developer, Betapond develops custom Facebook integrations that are social by design.
Betapond clients include M&S, Unilever, Intel, Avis, Red Bull, Tourism Ireland, The Met Office, Paddy Power.
About TCIO
The Tech City Investment Organisation (TCIO) was set up by UKTI in April 2011 to support the growth of the tech cluster in East London, helping to make it Europe’s centre of innovation and the location of choice for tech and digital companies and investors. Our objectives are to: assist in securing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Tech City; engage with overseas VCs and help them to set up or start evaluating deal-flow in Tech City; and support the cluster, and raise its profile internationally.
In November 2010, the Prime Minister set out the Government’s ambition to help East London become one of the world’s great technology centres. Government is helping in two ways:
- firstly, by ensuring that national policy promotes enterprise and growth. The Entrepreneur Visa, Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme and opening up Government procurement are three examples of action central Government has taken in direct response to concerns expressed by Tech City companies about access to talent and finance. No 10 is responsible for driving national policy; and
- secondly, by attracting inward investment, and supporting companies in the cluster who want to expand into international markets. TCIO was set up to do this.
Venture-backed, high-potential companies like Airbnb and Yammer have landed in Tech City as a result of our support, and we have worked to secure investment from leading international technology firms including Cisco, and Intel. World-leading academic institutions like UCL and Imperial College, London are also setting up here. Alongside the start-ups and small businesses like Songkick, EDITD and Lightbox, are leading international tech companies such as Google. A well-established network of incubators like Seedcamp and White Bear Yard provide early stage funding and support, and top international investors including Accel and Index are also here.
For more information, visit www.techcityuk.com, follow us at @techcityuk or contact us at [email protected]