Netsertive Raises $24 Million To Help Affiliates With Marketing

Netsertive, the marketing intelligence platform, has completed a round of $24 million in Series C funding, led by River Cities Capital Funds. Originally planning to raise $15 million, an additional $9 million was added to the round, which also has participation from Babson Capital Management and Netsertive’s existing investors, including RRE Ventures, Greycroft Partners and Harbert Venture Partners.

North Carolina-based Netsertive works with large businesses including Xerox, Chrysler and Kia Motors to achieve marketing effectiveness across local partners. Netsertive helps brands and affiliates stay on the same page, by focusing on consistent brand messaging and maximizing local ad spending.

Netsertive CEO Brendan Morrissey tells TechCrunch that Netsertive fills a void because regional partners are often “working with digital marketing companies who don’t understand their pain points.” Morrissey claims that by acting as a liaison between the brand and local channel partners, Netsertive is uniquely positioned in a way that “allows them to truly understand and address their clients’ wants and needs.”

He estimates that about $14 billion in “cooperative advertising marketing” is left on the table due to miscommunication and inefficiencies. Local affiliates have ad dollars to play with that go unspent.

John Elton, partner at Greycroft Partners, tells TechCrunch that his team is backing Netsertive because “there is going to be multibillion dollars of ad spend shift in their direction and they’re the leader.” He says that Netsertive’s niche focus is needed for brands because “it’s incredibly hard to track” whether “local dealers are promoting the right things.”

Jim Robinson IV of RRE Ventures,  who is also an investor and Netsertive board member, tells TechCrunch that Netsertive is instrumental because  local brand marketing has evolved from “hiring people who went door-to-door on sidewalks selling full page ads of the Yellow Pages, which nobody looked at.” Now most regional partners “have at least some sort of presence online” and Netsertive helps them execute a strategy.

Founded in 2009, Netsertive is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, which has seen a lot of tech investment lately. The company was recently named by Deloitte Fast 500 as one of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies, with 668 percent growth over the past three years.