Pressly Raises $1.5 Million for its Mobile Publishing Platform
TORONTO, ON — March 12, 2013 — Pressly, a mobile publishing platform that helps media companies and marketers instantly increase their audience engagement, has secured $1.5 million in financing from Inovia Capital and OMERS Ventures.
The funds will go toward marketing Pressly’s platform, which automatically converges numerous online content sources, such as websites, blogs and social channels, into an interactive mobile experience for tablets and smartphones.
“Our product gives businesses a fast and easy way to take their huge investments in content to mobile users everywhere, in a beautiful, highly engaging way,” says Jeff Brenner, CEO of Pressly.
Publishers and marketers are struggling to capture the attention of a growing mobile audience. Pressly allows its customers to curate their own content from around the web, including social and RSS feeds, into a branded HTML5 web app, that their readers will experience from a tablet or smartphone browser, rather than downloading an app.
“In the time it takes to load a web page, you can hook your readers with an amazing mobile experience,” says Brenner.
This innovative way to capture mobile attention is what drew Inovia Capital and OMERS Ventures to Pressly in the first place.
“We know brands and publishers are looking for a platform to amplify their message on mobile devices — which is a far cry from the keyboard and mouse world. Pressly absolutely nails it with this product,” said Karamdeep Nijjar, a Principal at Inovia Capital.
“At OMERS Ventures we invest in companies we believe can become global leaders. We think Pressly has huge potential due to its innovative products, strong management team and continuing market traction,” said Derek Smyth, Managing Director of OMERS Ventures.
In stealth mode since 2011, Pressly has signed partnerships with leading media firms including Ziff Davis, The Economist and The Toronto Star as well as produced branded content marketing pieces for Global 2000 companies, such as IBM and Toyota. Last month Pressly started rolling out its platform to thousands of early beta users, and the response has been overwhelming from clients, said Brenner.
According to a study analyzing millions of mobile visits in 2013, clients using Pressly to power their mobile content can enjoy up to 10 times more page views, and 4.5 times longer visits on their mobile property compared to standard industry benchmarks.
Brenner says those numbers suggest Pressly is the perfect platform for organizations with a content marketing strategy, such as B2B marketers, as well as traditional publishers.
The cloud-hosted service is now out of beta and open to the public with a free 30-day trial. After that, businesses will pay a monthly fee between $199 and $499.
“We love that Pressly gives content publishers a low-risk, low-friction way to take their business to the mobile world, and experiment — the times are changing and that’s what’s needed to succeed,” Brenner said.
About Pressly
Pressly is a mobile publishing platform that gives publishers and marketers an easy way to engage a growing mobile audience. With just a few clicks, you can automatically converge your content from around the web into a beautiful, immersive mobile experience for tablets and smartphones. Trusted by major brands, B2B marketers and publishers around the world, Pressly is a powerful solution to take your mobile strategy into the future.
About Inovia
Inovia partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build successful companies in high-growth sectors. The team is comprised of entrepreneurs and sector experts focused on Mobile, Internet and Digital Media. Inovia has $275M under management across three seed and early-stage funds. For more information, visit www.inovia.vc or follow Inovia on Twitter at www.twitter.com/inovia.
About OMERS Ventures
OMERS Ventures is the venture capital investment arm of OMERS, one of Canada’s largest pension funds with nearly $61 billion in net assets. It is an initiative of OMERS Strategic Investments (OSI), an investment entity with a mandate to build long-term strategic relationships with like-minded partners. As both an institutional angel investor and a later-stage investor, OMERS Ventures is looking for successful companies with significant growth potential and market opportunities. We are seeking like-minded partners with a shared vision of building a vibrant and successful knowledge economy. For more information please visit http://www.omersventures.com/.
