Knotch Brings In $20M To Help Companies Track Impact of Ads, Content

Knotch, which describes itself as a “digital content intelligence platform,” has closed a $20 million Series B led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The New York-based startup had previously raised just over $14 million.

Previous investors, which the company did not identify, and unnamed “relevant high-net worth entrepreneurs in the media and technology spaces” also participated in the latest financing round. With the new financing, NEA Venture Partner Hilarie Koplow-McAdams and Rob Norman, former chief digital officer of WPP’s GroupM, are joining Knotch’s board.

So what does Knotch do exactly? The company says it measures branded content both qualitatively and quantitatively.

“We work exclusively with brands and we do not monetize from any distribution channels to make sure that our business model isn’t invested in the success of what we are measuring,” Lara Vandenberg, Knotch’s SVP of marketing and communications, told Crunchbase News.

For example, she said that Knotch measures the impact of all of JP Morgan Chase’s content across their owned properties, such as Chase.com and their “paid partnerships” with The New York Times. Other customers include AT&T, Calvin Klein and Salesforce.

“We measure video, social, email – really wherever a brand has content,” Vandenberg said. “Our proprietary technology measures the audience sentiment in real time as well as the analytics to give a holistic view of a brand’s content performance. Brands can then optimize creative and distribution while the content is live.”

Knotch was founded in 2012 and launched to market in 2015. The company has seen rapid growth in the past year, according to Vandenberg, with customers increasing from four to 20 from January 2018 and booked revenue climbing 270 percent during that same time period.

The company plans to use its latest capital infusion to “enhance” its data collection, storage and instrumentation capabilities. It also plans to “further accelerate” its product roadmap, and expand its global reach in new markets.

“Brands have a desire to understand the effectiveness of their digital content across all channels, a gap that hadn’t been filled before Knotch” said NEA’s Koplow-McAdams in a written statement. “Our conviction around the Knotch platform and team is driven by their impressive traction and comprehensive product offerings.”