This year, over a billion dollars of capital investment has flowed into a new way of doing business. This new mode of operating is built on customer-centric, data-focused philosophies and marketing technologies. The companies on the receiving end of this are classic disruptors in their spaces from changing how people learn about (and execute on) financial planning to how they can make money off their past purchases. These businesses are early adopters and, in every case, represent a new way of integrating marketing into their larger business practices. They are solving age old problems with new technology and thinking about business differently that their predecessors (and competitors!).

A look back at the last 6 months alone shows some pretty impressive funding rounds for these early adopters – a selection of those include:

  • JustFab made huge news this summer with a massive, $85M round in August. This round lead to rampant speculation about their rumored $1B valuation and future IPO plans.

  • Our friends at Frank & Oak raised in September 2014 with a $15M Series B round, which will also mean they’ll open a NYC office – we can’t wait to have them nearby.

  • VICE Media took on not one, but two, rounds of investment totaling $500M – their valuation now tops $2.5B! Alongside other vendors like Ooyala, Marigold Engage by Sailthru, proud to work with such an innovative media company that not only invests in creative, groundbreaking content but targets an audience that has notoriously been hard to capture and gain loyalty with – the younger male demographic.

For us, it’s incredible validation to see the growth and investments in these category leaders. We pride ourselves on providing a solution for leading marketers who come at the typical problems facing brands and publishers today with an advanced way of thinking. They see the mass of data on customer preferences as an opportunity not as a challenge and they are growing leaps and bounds above their competition as a result.

With more than 400 enterprise and mid-market clients, we’re looking forward to seeing where the next category leaders emerge across the media and ecommerce industries. What we do know is that they’ll be focused on the future of customer experience and that they’ll be leading the pack, not just in omnichannel adoption, but in omnichannel excellence.

— Neil Capel, Founder & CEO of Sailthru

eCommercefrank and oakjustfabmediaNeil Capelnewstechvcventure capitalvice media