RepTrak, the global leader in reputation intelligence, has secured a majority recapitalization by Periscope Equity, a Chicago-based private equity firm. This strategic acquisition marks a pivotal moment in RepTrak’s history, positioning the company for accelerated growth and innovation in the reputation intelligence space.

Key Details of the Acquisition

1. Enhanced Focus on Innovation
The partnership with Periscope Equity will enable RepTrak to advance its innovation strategy, with a focus on:

• Expanding data visualization to enhance the user experience on the platform.
• Leveraging AI to improve platform functionality and enhance advisory services.

2. Strengthening Client Relationships

• Expanding strategic partnerships and deepening client relationships to drive more value.
• Broadening core offerings to reach a wider executive audience.

3. Scaling Global Impact

• Scaling multi-country programs to ensure greater impact across diverse markets.
• Delivering industry-focused solutions tailored to the needs of various stakeholders.

4. Advancing Tech-Enabled Solutions
RepTrak is poised to utilize tech-enabled solutions to deliver greater insights, enabling businesses to more effectively manage and measure corporate reputation in real-time.

CEO Insights
Mark Sonders, CEO of RepTrak, expressed excitement over the partnership:

“This partnership with Periscope represents an exciting milestone for us. With their support, we're well-positioned to accelerate innovation and enhance our offerings to meet the evolving needs of our clients. This investment strengthens our leadership position in the industry, empowering us to drive greater impact and deliver unmatched value within the marketplace.”

The recapitalization by Periscope Equity marks a new chapter for RepTrak, enabling the company to scale its global operations, expand its AI-driven solutions, and enhance its position as a leader in reputation intelligence. With a stronger focus on innovation and client-centric solutions, RepTrak is set to continue its market leadership.

Levanta, a leading affiliate marketing platform for Amazon sellers, has announced the closing of a $20 million Series A funding round led by Volition Capital. This investment will enable Levanta to expand its platform capabilities, accelerate growth, and solidify its position as a leading creator-driven commerce platform for Amazon sellers.

Strategic Use of Funds

1. Expanding Business Development Team
With the new funding, Levanta will scale its business development team to support the increasing demand from Amazon sellers, brands, and creators. This growth will strengthen Levanta’s ability to foster deeper relationships and drive more dynamic partnerships between sellers and creators.

2. Investing in Product Development
Levanta will invest heavily in product development to enhance the user experience and improve its platform’s functionality. These improvements will help drive more revenue-generating partnerships and create a seamless marketplace ecosystem for brands, creators, and publishers.

3. Broadening Market Reach
Levanta plans to expand into additional international markets, with Spain and Italy set for launch in early 2025, while continuing to support five major Amazon markets: U.S., U.K., Canada, France, and Germany.

The Growing Opportunity in Creator-Driven Commerce
The affiliate marketing industry is projected to reach $12 billion globally by 2025, driven by the growing trend of performance-based partnerships. Levanta’s platform is uniquely positioned to help Amazon sellers capture this growth, enabling them to forge direct, impactful partnerships with creators—one of the most trusted channels for consumer recommendations today.

Levanta's Role in Creator-Driven Commerce
With nearly half of consumers making purchases based on influencer posts, Levanta is at the forefront of this shift in consumer behavior. The platform offers a scalable, performance-based solution for sellers to drive sales, expand into new markets, and build long-term relationships with creators.

A Proven Leader in Marketplace Affiliate Marketing
Since its founding in 2023, Levanta has quickly gained traction, with its platform projected to generate $286 million in annualized GMV. Trusted by top-tier Amazon brands like HexClad, Kitsch, and MANSCAPED, Levanta has proven its ability to deliver significant returns, especially during peak events like Amazon Prime Day.

Levanta's Leadership Team
Levanta was founded by Ian Brodie (CEO), Rob Schab (Chief Marketplace Officer), and Spencer McKenney (Chief Technology Officer), who previously launched and scaled Grovia, an affiliate recruitment software provider acquired by Acceleration Partners in 2022. Leveraging their experience, they launched Levanta in 2023 to disrupt the retail media space and enable Amazon sellers to increase sales through high-impact, direct affiliate partnerships.

CEO Insights
Ian Brodie, CEO of Levanta, shared:

“This funding is a pivotal moment for Levanta. With the support of Volition Capital, we're primed to take our platform to the next level and offer even more value to marketplace sellers and creators. The affiliate marketing landscape is evolving rapidly, and we are committed to driving innovation and providing an ecosystem where brands, creators, and influencers can collaborate in meaningful ways to grow their businesses and reach new audiences.”

What the Investment Means for Levanta

1. Accelerating Growth and Market Reach
Levanta will continue expanding its business development team, enabling deeper engagement across diverse verticals and strengthening its platform presence.

2. Advancing Platform Functionality
Levanta will invest in improving its platform, enhancing both the seller and creator experience, and developing a more dynamic marketplace for revenue generation.

3. Cementing Leadership in Creator-Driven Commerce
Levanta aims to solidify its position as the top platform for Amazon sellers by meeting the growing demand from brands looking to expand onto Amazon, strengthening its market leadership in creator-driven commerce.

Tidio, a leading AI-powered customer service platform, has announced the expansion of its proprietary Lyro AI to its email channel, significantly enhancing its help desk capabilities. With this new development, Lyro AI now delivers industry-leading automation across key customer support channels, including email, live chat, and social media, enabling businesses to streamline their support processes and provide faster, more accurate resolutions.

Key Features of the Lyro AI Expansion

1. Enhanced Automation Rates
Initially launched in Tidio's Live Chat, Lyro AI quickly achieved an average resolution rate of 58%, with peaks nearing 90%. By extending this functionality to email, Tidio now offers one of the most comprehensive AI-powered help desk platforms, allowing businesses to handle higher volumes of inquiries with greater speed and efficiency.

2. Immediate Response and Faster Resolutions

• Instant Answers: Lyro AI provides immediate responses to customer inquiries, eliminating wait times and reducing the need for human intervention.
• Faster Resolution: All inquiries, whether from chat, email, or social media, are managed through a unified dashboard, ensuring they are prioritized and resolved efficiently without missing any.

3. Seamless Multichannel Integration
Lyro AI integrates seamlessly across multiple channels, offering a 360-degree view of customer interactions. This comprehensive context helps support agents provide faster, more personalized service without switching between platforms.

4. Ease of Implementation
Businesses can begin utilizing Lyro AI almost immediately thanks to its simple onboarding and minimal setup requirements. The system can be trained using just a single URL from a business’s website, ensuring a smooth and quick adoption process.

5. Proven Success in the Field
Tidio’s expansion of Lyro AI has already been proven effective with Gecko Hospitality, a leading executive recruiting firm. Max Sealey, Support Services Manager at Gecko Hospitality, shared:

"About 90% of our conversations are now handled by Lyro, and in the vast majority of cases, the responses are perfect. Our biggest concern about AI hallucination has been unfounded, and Lyro has proven extremely reliable in handling recruitment inquiries, even generating over 250 new leads."

6. Business Benefits
By automating routine inquiries across email and live chat, businesses can boost customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores, improve efficiency, and free up resources to focus on more complex customer interactions.

Marius Laza, Chief Customer Officer at Tidio, explained:

"Tidio allows businesses to strike the right balance between automation and personal connection. With Lyro AI now supporting key channels like email and live chat, brands can handle routine inquiries faster while still maintaining a personalized touch for more complex issues."

Optable, a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform specializing in data management, activation, and collaboration for the advertising ecosystem, has appointed Jean-Paul Chauvet and David Hahn to its Board of Directors. This strategic move comes at a pivotal moment as the company sets its sights on the next phase of growth and product development, especially within the data privacy-focused adtech space.

Key Appointments to Optable’s Board of Directors:

• Jean-Paul Chauvet:
  • Former CEO of Lightspeed Commerce, where he successfully led the company through global expansion and an IPO.
  • Expertise in scaling businesses and driving customer-focused innovation, which will aid Optable’s expansion into the publisher and advertiser markets.
  • A valuable addition as Optable explores its next growth phase and enhances its product offering.
• David Hahn:
  • Co-Founder and COO of Guideline and former Chief Product and Strategy Officer at Integral Ad Science (IAS).
  • Played a crucial role in growing IAS into a global leader in digital advertising analytics.
  • Brings a wealth of knowledge in product strategy and corporate development, positioning him to help guide Optable through the complexities of the adtech industry.

Strategic Implications for Optable’s Growth:

• Chauvet’s Insights:

  • "Optable is at the heart of the evolving advertising landscape, especially around data privacy and collaboration. I'm excited to be part of this journey and contribute to the company’s next level of success."

• Hahn’s Perspective:

  • "The adtech industry is undergoing significant change in data management. Optable is poised to lead the way in helping publishers and advertisers navigate this transformation."

• Yves Poiré, CEO of Optable, adds:

  • "The addition of Jean-Paul and David strengthens our leadership team and will be crucial in helping us develop new data collaboration solutions for the privacy era of adtech."

With the addition of two seasoned leaders to its Board, Optable is strategically positioning itself to lead in the evolving adtech space. Chauvet and Hahn’s expertise will be instrumental as the company accelerates its efforts to deliver innovative, privacy-centric solutions to the advertising ecosystem.

PerformLine, a leading marketing compliance platform, has appointed Kristie Goodgion as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With over 20 years of finance leadership experience, Goodgion is set to guide PerformLine’s financial strategy as the company accelerates its growth, particularly within regulated industries such as financial services and technology.

Kristie Goodgion's Appointment:

• Leadership Experience:

  • Kristie Goodgion joins PerformLine with over two decades of experience in strategic planning, risk management, mergers & acquisitions (M&A), and scaling both public and private equity-backed companies.
  • Known for her dynamic leadership style, she will play a crucial role in enhancing PerformLine's financial performance and driving continued growth.

• Previous Role and Achievements:

  • Most recently served as CFO and Executive Director at Spark Networks SE, where she led a company transformation plan.
  • Built financial infrastructures and operational strategies that facilitated significant growth and profitability.
  • Successfully completed more than 15 acquisitions, four private equity sales, and handled complex M&A processes.

Kristie Goodgion’s Vision for PerformLine:

• Her Commitment:
  • "I'm thrilled to join PerformLine at such an important time. With a strong portfolio, a talented team, and an innovative culture, I'm excited to apply my strategic financial expertise to help achieve our goals."
• CEO Alex Baydin’s Remarks:
  • "We’re excited to welcome Kristie to the leadership team. Her proven ability to drive financial results and manage complex operations makes her the perfect fit to help us grow and expand our impact in the compliance space."

PerformLine's Strategic Focus:

• Marketing Compliance in Regulated Industries:
  • PerformLine’s platform continues to be an essential tool for brands in regulated markets, offering complete compliance solutions from discovery to remediation and reporting.
  • As enterprises from sectors like financial services and tech choose PerformLine for its robust marketing compliance technology, Goodgion’s leadership will be instrumental in the company’s continued success.

With Kristie Goodgion’s appointment as CFO, PerformLine is poised to strengthen its financial position and continue driving growth in the marketing compliance space. Her expertise will help the company navigate its next phase of expansion and enhance its market presence.

Mundial Media, a leading platform for contextual marketing focused on multicultural audiences, has successfully raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed extension round. This funding, supported by both new and existing investors, will propel the company’s growth, focusing on further product innovation, talent acquisition, and expanding its digital advertising offerings.

Funding and Expansion Plans:

• Successful Funding Round:

  • Mundial Media raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed extension round, backed by family offices and venture firms specializing in marketing automation.
  • This funding will drive product innovation, support talent acquisition, and help expand Mundial Media’s core digital advertising products, cementing its position in the multicultural digital advertising space.

• Strategic Focus:

  • The investment will support the continued development of Mundial Media’s unique platform, with an emphasis on Cadmus AI’s capabilities, a hyper-contextual engine that uses first-party data and AI to target multicultural audiences.

Cadmus AI’s Role in Contextual Advertising:

• AI-Driven Insights:

  • Mundial Media’s Cadmus AI platform is designed to enhance contextual advertising by providing culturally relevant messaging at scale, focusing on Hispanic, Black, AAPI, and LGBTQ+ audiences.
  • The engine analyzes over 1 billion real-time contextual data points, helping brands plan and execute media campaigns with precision.
  • Cadmus AI is a privacy-first solution, eliminating the need for third-party cookies, thus providing a more secure and ethical approach to digital advertising.

• Reaching Diverse Audiences:

  • Cadmus AI reaches over 30 million active multicultural users monthly, enabling brands to engage effectively with diverse communities.
  • The platform is already helping brands connect with the $3.7 trillion U.S. Latino economy and other multicultural markets.

Expert Insights:

• Tony Gonzalez, CEO and Co-Founder of Mundial Media:
  • “This funding allows us to lead the next wave of innovation in contextual advertising, refining our capabilities to deliver meaningful, culturally relevant messages at scale.”
• Gerard Goetz, Managing Partner at New Day:
  • “Mundial Media’s sophisticated approach to contextual technology uniquely positions them to create genuine connections between brands and audiences. We’re excited to support their continued growth.”

Mundial Media is poised for continued growth, leveraging its cutting-edge AI technology and strong investor backing to transform how brands connect with multicultural audiences. With the support of this new funding, Mundial Media is positioned to further innovate in the contextual marketing space and expand its reach within diverse communities.

Veritone, Inc., a leader in AI-driven enterprise solutions, has announced the launch of its programmatic job advertising service in Australia. This innovative offering is designed to revolutionize recruitment by optimizing candidate sourcing with artificial intelligence (AI), automating job ad placements, and improving the quality of applications while reducing costs.

Key Features of Veritone’s Programmatic Job Advertising Service:

• AI-Driven Recruitment Optimization:

  • Veritone’s programmatic job advertising utilizes real-time data and AI to streamline the hiring process, improving candidate sourcing and enhancing recruitment efficiency.

• Global Reach:

  • The service distributes job ads across over 2,000 job boards in more than 180 countries, ensuring widespread visibility and access to a diverse talent pool.

• Integration with ATS:

  • Seamless integration with over 120 application tracking systems (ATS) allows for smoother workflow and better management of job postings.

• Diversity Job Posting:

  • The service includes automated diversity job postings, supporting the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) standards, and enhancing inclusivity in recruitment.

Success Story - Aveo Group’s Adoption of Veritone:

• Kirsten Covey, Group Manager of Talent Acquisition at Aveo Group:
  • "Veritone's programmatic advertising has transformed the way we hire, optimizing our recruitment costs and improving the quality of applications. We've seen immediate results and look forward to continuing our partnership with Veritone to stay competitive in the recruitment landscape."

Expansion and Future Prospects:

• Veritone’s Global Reach:
  • The launch in Australia marks a significant milestone in Veritone’s global expansion of its AI-powered recruitment solutions, enabling companies to recruit smarter and more effectively.
• Alex Fourlis, General Manager of Veritone Hire:
  • "This is a major step for Veritone as we continue to expand our talent acquisition solutions globally. Our AI tools give companies the ability to recruit faster, smarter, and more efficiently."

Veritone's programmatic job advertising service is set to transform recruitment strategies in Australia, offering companies a more efficient, cost-effective, and data-driven way to attract top talent. With AI at the core of its offering, Veritone is helping businesses stay competitive in the global talent acquisition market.

Invoca, a leader in revenue execution platforms, has released its second annual State of AI in B2C Digital Marketing Report. This comprehensive survey of 600 marketers in the U.S. and U.K. highlights AI's transformative impact on marketing strategies, with an overwhelming 80% of marketers reporting positive returns from their AI investments. The findings underscore growing confidence in AI's ability to drive innovation and revenue growth within the digital marketing space.

Key Insights from the Report:

• AI Investment and ROI:

  • 80% of marketers reported that their use of AI exceeded return on investment (ROI) expectations.
  • 93% of respondents had positive experiences with AI tools in 2024, and 95% plan to increase AI investments in the upcoming year.

• AI's Impact on Employment:

  • 57% of marketers believe AI will create more jobs than it displaces, up 7% from the previous year, as AI automates repetitive tasks and enhances productivity.
  • Despite concerns about job displacement, AI is viewed as a tool that will foster more strategic roles in marketing organizations.

• Executive Ownership of AI Adoption:

  • 37% of marketers report that AI adoption is now overseen by executives, such as CMOs, a significant increase from 18% in 2023.
  • More than 90% of organizations plan to allocate a dedicated AI budget for 2025.

• Growing AI Expertise in Large Companies:

  • 60% of marketers at companies with over 1,000 employees report expert-level AI knowledge, compared to just 40% at smaller organizations, reversing the trend from 2023.
  • AI expertise is increasingly widespread, with 43% of managers identifying as AI experts, narrowing the gap with senior leaders.

• AI's Contribution to Revenue Growth:

  • 94% of marketers report that AI positively impacted revenue in 2024.
  • In 2025, AI investments will focus on productivity, data analysis, process automation, and enhancing customer experiences.

• Barriers to AI Adoption:

  • Data security concerns are the leading barrier to AI adoption, with many companies hesitant to share proprietary data with external AI models.
  • Lack of transparency in AI tools remains a challenge, hindering full trust and integration.

AI Literacy and Career Advancement:

• AI as a Key Skill:
  • AI literacy is now seen as essential for career growth, with 94% of marketers expecting AI experience to be a critical hiring factor in 2025.
  • Marketers without AI skills are increasingly concerned about being left behind, with 26% fearing they may appear outdated, and 21% worried about potential layoffs.
  • AI proficiency is also crucial for job performance, with marketers lacking AI skills expecting challenges in campaign efficiency, performance tracking, and budget management.

The State of AI in B2C Digital Marketing Report reveals that AI has firmly established itself as a critical tool for marketers, enhancing efficiency, driving revenue growth, and transforming marketing strategies. As AI adoption grows, the ability to leverage these technologies will be essential for marketers to stay competitive in an evolving industry.