Bentonville Company Closes $10.5M Investment Round

Collective Bias, the Bentonville-based advertising and marketing firm, has successfully closed a $10.5 million Series A investment round, the company announced in a news release.

Updata Partners of Washington D.C., one of the country’s top technology-focused growth equity firms — with nearly $500 million of capital under management — provided the majority of the funding round. The amount was not disclosed.

The capital will help Collective Bias ramp up its efforts to further expand its footprint throughout the U.S. and abroad, and is expected to increase its clientele, which already includes major Fortune 100 companies.

Collective Bias, which employees 67 people and was founded in May 2009 by John Andrews and Amy Callahan, focuses on building the ever-evolving relationship between brands and retailers and today’s consumers. The company directs its efforts on the new media category of shopper marketing through social media.

Andrews, the company’s CEO, believes social shopper marketing is the evolution of shopper media. He explained that research shows consumers have become more reliant on word of mouth in the decision-making process — either from people they know or online consumers they don’t.

The process is made more seamless by social media, allowing user-generated content to reach consumers faster, and it’s the real-time angle that retailers and brands are finding invaluable.

Collective Bias is considered a pioneer in the industry, capitalizing on the idea with a business model based on the human experience online. Through its proprietary Social Fabric community, Collective Bias boasts a multi-channel reach of 50 million people.

“Collective Bias’ combination of shopper marketing expertise and brand and retail experience are a powerful combination in the new era of marketing,” James Soca, a general partner at Updata Partners, said in the release. “We look forward to helping them drive even more value and growth.”

New York-based Gridley & Co. LLC assisted in the financing process.

Collective Bias, ranked No. 100 in February on Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of America’s Most Promising Companies, has satellite offices in New York City, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, Toronto and London. The company maintains a workforce of 51 at its downtown Bentonville headquarters.

Andrews told the Business Journal in December he expected the company to produce revenue between $7 million and $8 million in 2012.

Andrews said he doesn’t anticipate pursuing a Series B funding round, “unless we were going to acquire a larger size company.”