Mediafly scores $10M for up to 30 new hires

A $10 million funding is not a bad way to kick off the year.

Mediafly, a Chicago-based company that builds software to help sales and media companies share information and multimedia content internally, just raised $10 million in private equity.

"More and more companies are investing in their salespeople," said CEO Carson Conant. "I think that's really going to heat up as more companies focus on growth... We're one of the few things they can buy that allows them to magnify the value of their sales teams."

The company told Crain’s that the funding comes from Pennsylvania-based Boathouse Capital and will be used to make between 20 and 30 new hires, adding to its current headcount of 40.

Conant said the hires will be split evenly between product, sales and marketing. That works out to a tripling of the company's current salesforce. On the marketing side, Mediafly will be building its first team more or less completely from scratch. 

Mediafly has two core products. SalesKit helps companies distribute up-to-date content to their sales teams more efficiently and lets sales reps make better use of that content in engaging with customers. Its second product, ProReview, lets companies safely distribute video content internally prior to release.

ProReview uses a combination of advanced permissions, tracking, encryption and forensic watermarks to protect studios against leaks.

Conant founded Mediafly in 2006 with the intent of growing it into a podcasting company. His vision shifted over time, and the company spent some time working on a consumer app. Eventually, Mediafly settled on the enterprise platform it delivers today.

The pivot paid off. Mediafly has been featured on the Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies list for three consecutive years, with a three-year revenue growth of 197 percent. The funding brings the company’s total to $22 million.

In a 2015 interview, Conant hinted to Built In Chicago about a possible upcoming acquisition. Conant told Crain’s the company is still keeping that possibility open.

In addition to the news of the funding, the company also announced that Boathouse Capital VP Andy Jang will be joining Mediafly's Board of Directors.

Image via Mediafly.

What's your company's story? Let us know with a tip or a tweet @BuiltInChicago