Netsertive in hiring mode after raising $15M
Digital advertising technology company Netsertive anticipates hiring at least 50 employees over the next 12 months – and possibly many more – after raising $15 million from investors.
The Morrisville company, which has ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing privately held businesses in recent years, could end up hiring 100 or more workers over the next year as it plows its infusion of cash into further expansion, said co-founder and CEO Brendan Morrissey.
“We continue to add to pretty much all teams across the board,” he said.
Netsertive, which today has more than 170 employees locally and more than 200 overall, doubled its total equity funding to date with its latest round of financing led by River Cities Capital Funds, a Cincinnati growth equity fund with an office in Raleigh. Netsertive, which was founded in 2009, previously raised $14.5 million in equity.
“We’ve been tracking the company for about five years and have always been impressed by the quality of the management team, the people they have added, and their dramatic revenue growth,” said Rik Vandevenne of River Cities.
Inc. magazine ranked Netsertive No. 676 on its latest annual list of the nation’s fastest-growing private businesses after the company posted 668 percent revenue growth over the past three years. In 2014 its revenue totaled $31.6 million, up 63 percent from 2013, according to Inc.
Morrissey anticipates that the company’s revenue this year will be 40 percent to 50 percent higher.
Netsertive’s technology platform enables brands and retailers to use a variety of targeted online ads – including display ads, search ads and video ads – to drive consumers to brick-and-mortar stores. That starts with identifying consumers shopping for specific types of products and exposing them to a series of ads that initially focus on brand awareness and ultimately point to a specific retailer.
Netsertive also makes it easy for local retailers to insert marketing content developed by brands into their websites and online ads.
“It’s a huge market opportunity,” said Vandevenne, who is joining Netsertive’s board of directors. “The transition from traditional media ... to digital media is a tsunami that is in the beginning stages.”
Netsertive focuses on certain consumer industries – including automotive and furniture and appliances – with relatively long sales cycles that often start with consumers doing Internet research. With its new funding it is expanding into new markets, including companies with large software or hardware brands, Morrissey said.
Netsertive also is “redoubling our investments across the technology platform ... to stay ahead of the curve,” Morrissey said.
The company’s list of clients includes about 2,000 local retailers and more than three dozen household brands such as Chrysler, Electrolux, Frigidaire, La-Z-Boy, Samsung and Serta.
David Ranii: 919-829-4877, @dranii
This story was originally published October 7, 2015 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Netsertive in hiring mode after raising $15M."