Vitrue Completes $17m Funding Round

In the US, social media engagement firm Vitrue has closed a $17m Series C financing round, which it plans to use to open new domestic and international offices and hire between 100 and 150 new staff for them.

Vitrue says its software helps clients manage 454 million 'fans' across 2,000 pages in 40+ countries. The firm's Social Relationship Manager (SRM) platform provides an understanding of social media behaviors, while its Social Media Index (SMI) measures a brand's mentions across social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, and media sites like YouTube and Flickr.

The latest funding has been led by Scale Venture Partners and Advent Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Comcast Interactive and Dace Ventures. As part of the deal, Scale Venture Partners exec Stacey Curry Bishop has joined the Vitrue Board.

The money will finance seven new domestic operations, including offices in New York, San Francisco, and Dallas, and three international offices in London, Toronto and Singapore.

'With the explosion of Facebook, Twitter and mobile location-aware apps, the opportunity for brands to effectively engage and deepen relationships with consumers has never been greater,' states Reggie Bradford, CEO of Vitrue. 'We will aggressively scale the company and continue delivering best in class solutions to our customers, enabling them to connect with consumers any time, any place.'

Web site: www.vitrue.com .