4C Raises $5M To Turn Social Data Into Smarter Marketing

Social data startup 4C is announcing that it has raised $5 million in Series B funding.

The company was formed last year from the merger of Voxsup and The Echo System, combining the former company’s strength in social data with the latter’s focus on advertising and e-commerce. (Apparently the merger wasn’t publicized at the time.)

Voxsup founder Alok Choudhary, who’s also a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Northwestern University, serves as 4C’s chairman and chief scientist, while The Echo System founder Lance Neuhauser is CEO.

The company says that it looks at how online behavior affects consumer attitudes toward brands, for example by helping advertisers choose the best audiences to target on Facebook and Twitter. When I asked for some examples of what 4C can do, Neuhauser pointed (via email) to a study done “in conjunction” with Facebook” that “looked at over 50 different brand categories, consumer engagement data and television viewing preferences”:

A prime example comes in the surprisingly strong and over indexed connection of Financial Services to Reality TV Viewing. Consumers of both Financial Services and Reality TV are drawn to the unscripted drama that occurs within both interests. However, at 4C we also have the ability to look deeper than categories and identify direct connections between brands, users and precise interests. In past social ad campaigns top performer connections have been; Nicorette to Santa Claus, PGA to the Kennedy Center for the Arts, & Microsoft to Post-it Notes.”

4C says it works with Fortune 500 brands and large ad agencies like Publicis Group’s VivaKi. Neuhauser said plans for the new funding include growing the team, expanding internationally, and “including insights for more efficient television advertising planning, buying and selling.”

The Series B comes form Jump Capital and brings the total amount raised (including funding for Voxsup and The Echo System) to $8.25 million.