Socialware, the leader in social media compliance and engagement, today announced that it has secured $7 million in Series C funding led by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.
Socialware empowers financial services firms to engage with customers and generate sales channel leads, while maintaining 100 percent compliance with organization and industry regulation. The funding will be leveraged to enhance the industry standard Socialware platform and extend the company's market leadership serving the financial services industry.
"As large firms step forward to promote their social media strategies, organizations throughout financial services are now lining up to demonstrate their leadership in the race to social media engagement," said Chad Bockius, CEO of Socialware. "This proves the competitive value firms are attributing to social networking, and we are thrilled to be backed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and our other valued investors as we continue to grow rapidly in order to best deliver social business results for this industry."
"Maintaining compliance and driving business through social networks has captured the attention of the financial services industry, and Socialware is ideally positioned to deliver on this opportunity," said Peter Chung, Managing Principal at Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and the latest addition to the Socialware Board of Directors. "Socialware has a proven track record of consistent technological innovation and social media thought leadership which help customers keep pace with industry change and achieve social business success."
Socialware has acquired more than 100 financial services customers including American Portfolios, Cambridge Investment Research, Guardian Life, and New York Life. The release of its most recent product, Voices, has generated a great deal of interest in solutions that not only ensure compliance, but provide tools for measureable lead generation in large distributed sales channels via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Current Socialware investors include FLOODGATE, G-51 Capital and Silverton Partners.
"We immediately recognized the immense potential for the Socialware team to deliver industry changing technology and leadership," said Mike Maples, Founding Partner at FLOODGATE and investor in firms including Bazaarvoice, Digg, and Twitter. "I've witnessed the rapid growth of the company and am confident that Socialware will continue as the industry's preferred social business management solution."
While there are many tools entering the market touting compliance and social management capabilities, Socialware is the only solution that is solely focused on the complex issues surrounding the financial services market. The hybrid proxy/API approach of Socialware Compass for capturing data is the only way to ensure 100 percent social media compliance. Tightly integrated with the Compass compliance platform, Socialware Voices then provides the ability to prove ROI from social media campaigns.