47m Series Blackrocksawersventurebeat: We’re in strange times. When it comes to measuring something – whether it’s a website visit, or the success of a marketing campaign – the digital world is split between tools that measure passively (using Google Analytics and other web-based services) and those that use more active methods (like push notifications). This has been a particular issue for the marketing industry, which has been divided between the pure numbers-people and the people who think that well-designed experiences are more meaningful.
Enter AnyRoad , a Boston-based startup that promises to bridge these groups. Co-founded in 2013 by CEO and former Harvard Business School professor John Gourville, AnyRoad is an analytics platform for measuring digital marketing campaigns, in real life.
Naturally, this means it’s built on an app, which is compatible with iOS and Android. Using the app and GPS (plus a beacon), it records the exact interactions people have with campaign materials – from billboards to mini-sites to those irritating cards you get in the mail. Aided by some AI, these inputs can be turned into meaningful data about how someone actually experiences a company’s products. From there, you can use AnyRoad to ‘optimize marketing efforts for greater impact and efficiency.’
Today, AnyRoad is announcing that it has raised $47 million. The round was led by Meritech Capital Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners, and also included NextStage Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and a bunch of other investors.
According to the company, this funding will be used to expand AnyRoad’s customer base to ‘a wider range of industries and geographies’. The company says it’s currently in the process of deploying AnyRoad to ‘leading enterprises and digital marketing agencies.’
It’s worth noting that Meritech and Bessemer were also investors in GrubHub, which was acquired by bigger rival (and investor) GrubHub in 2014 for $2.9 billion . AnyRoad isn’t the first food-focused startup to be backed by these investors, and it won’t be the last.
“AnyRoad is transforming customer engagement by delivering an unprecedented level of insight into people’s real-world interactions with brands,” said Gourville, who will be speaking at our upcoming TC Sessions: Marketing event in Boston (April 4), in a statement. “We’ve built the world’s most sophisticated digital marketing analytics tool for mobile and we look forward to partnering with customers to help them realize the return on investment.”