On Tuesday, Chicago adtech darling Signal announced the closing of a $30 million Series E round of funding. The round was led by Chicago-based I2A, who were joined by Pritzker Group Venture Capital, Baird Capital, EPIC Ventures and Silicon Valley Bank.
“I2A is a local fund, and [Managing Partner Kapil Chaudhary] has been an investor in Signal from the very beginning of the company six years ago,” said CEO Mike Sands. “We thought being able to continue our track record of working with great Chicago investors … was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
Sands said the funding will be used to expand Signal’s Chicago-based technology organization and grow the company’s global operations by adding sales and account management roles in Australia, the United Kingdom and across the Asia Pacific region. The company also plans to enter new markets in Asia and Europe.
One of the country’s fastest growing software companies, Signal’s cross-channel marketing platform lets marketers recognize and target consumers across devices. In so doing, the company lets advertisers meet consumers at the right time and place, with more insight than would be afforded by seeing each device as a separate user.
Signal has raised $70 million in funding to date and brought in $29.1 million in revenues last year, landing it at the top spot of Crain's Fast 50 list for 2016. The company operates in 158 countries, with global brands like Audi, GAP and Starwood Hotels and Resorts among its customers. Signal has also worked closely with a number of Chicago-based companies.
“We’ve gotten a lot of support from local brands like Sears, Crate & Barrel and Kraft, that recognize the power of our solution, but also recognize that supporting Chicago companies in the technology ecosystem and in the startup community is really important,” said Sands.
To him, these partnerships illustrate why Chicago is increasingly becoming a hub for tech startups.
“Chicago has been an awesome place to start a technology company,” said Sands. “I think that being in the technology ecosystem in Chicago since the 1990s and being able to see the growth really take off in the past five years — and being on the ground floor of this next-generation growth in Chicago technology toward what it is today — has been particularly rewarding.”
Image via Signal.
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