Angara, a start-up provider of online
marketing services, began operations with the launch of the Angara E-Commerce
Targeting Service, a hosted application service for lowering customer
acquisition costs by targeting content to unknown site visitors in real-time.
Focused on the business-to-consumer marketing sector, the company is headed
by chief executive officer Mark Metcalfe, former president of Cendant Membership Services, a
large direct response operation.
Angara also unveiled a strategic partnership with consulting firm McKinsey & Co. and announced the
completion of a $14 million second round of funding from investors including
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, JMI Equities, VantagePoint Venture Partners
and other leading venture capital firms.
Proceeds from the financing will be used as working capital for technology
development, marketing and business development initiatives and the launch of
Angara’s real-time e-commerce targeting service.
Angara said it is developing a partner network of service, application and
solution providers to accelerate the adoption of its online marketing
services and the deal with McKinsey is only the first step.
“E-commerce companies are demanding better results from their Internet
marketing initiatives, and Angara, in conjunction with its partners, will
deliver a portfolio of world-class marketing services with measurable ROI,”
said Metcalfe.
Angara’s E-Commerce Targeting Service solution aims content at unidentified
visitors in real-time by leveraging a geographic and demographic information
on millions of anonymous Internet user profiles,
“Angara has created a strategic business model that puts it at the center of
the fast-growing market for online marketing services focused on improving
customer conversion,” said Ted Schlein, general partner at Kleiner Perkins.
“With this new round of capitalization we anticipate substantial growth
potential for the company.”
