Pittsburgh-Based Startup Rhiza Closes $3 Million Funding Round to Accelerate Growth

PITTSBURGH, June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhiza, the leading provider of marketing analytics tools that make Big Data actionable for marketers and salespeople, announced today that it has closed a $3 million Series-A funding round led by Pittsburgh-based Draper Triangle Ventures with participation from Arthur Ventures, and Camp One Ventures. The capital will fuel Rhiza's ongoing growth by building out its sales, marketing, and customer service teams to meet the demand in the market for its product.

Rhiza's product suite increases revenue for both media companies and advertisers by delivering detailed recommendations based on integrated consumer insights. Its platform is used by a rapidly growing list of notable customers, including Comcast, Univision, Cox Media, Cox Reps and Experian.

"Our priority is to help our customers move beyond dashboards and utilize our powerful analytics platform to make smarter decisions that propel their businesses forward," said Rhiza CEO Josh Knauer. "Thanks to the infusion of capital from Draper Ventures, Arthur Ventures and Camp One Ventures, we will not only be able to better serve our current clients, but also reach new audiences and refine our innovative tools for visualizing, analyzing and sharing data."

New product developments have expanded Rhiza's suite of analytics to include tools that rapidly develop marketing plans, support multi channel media buys and create visually compelling, data-driven marketing and sales collateral. Rhiza's latest product release revolutionizes the way users interact with their data, making it simpler to find answers to their toughest questions about how to reach and influence consumers.

"Rhiza is disrupting the marketing analytics industry with intuitive tools for marketers and salespeople across the entire enterprise at a fraction of the cost," said Mike Stubler, Managing Director at Draper Triangle Ventures. "Without taking any outside capital, the company has operated very efficiently since it was founded, and has achieved amazing success serving some of the largest media brands. Rhiza's technology, culture, business acumen, and vision for growth made it a perfect fit for us."

"After years of working with some of the largest media companies and brands in the world, we've learned to optimize our platform to quickly provide great tools our customers need," said Knauer. "This infusion of capital will help Rhiza strategically expand our sales and marketing efforts to broaden our customer base while expanding our ability to provide excellent service to our clients."

About Rhiza
Rhiza is an emerging leader in the field of marketing analytics, offering online tools that make Big Data actionable for marketers and salespeople. Rhiza's tools increase revenue for both media companies and advertisers by delivering detailed recommendations based on integrated consumer insights. Media publishers use Rhiza to arm their salespeople with better tools for selling premium advertising. Marketers use Rhiza to optimize hyper-targeted media buys, track campaign effectiveness and quickly create new marketing plans.  Rhiza's SaaS-based software is used by a rapidly growing list of notable customers, including Comcast, Univision, Cox Media, Cox Reps and Experian.

About Draper Triangle Ventures
Draper Triangle Ventures is a premier source of funding for early stage high-technology companies in the Midwest. As the Midwest-based partner of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Draper Triangle offers entrepreneurs a host of benefits unrivaled in the industry. For more information, visit drapertriangle.com.

About Arthur Ventures
Arthur Ventures is a venture capital firm with offices in Fargo and Minneapolis.  The firm was founded in 2008 by James and Doug Burgum (Chairman - Atlassian, Chairman - SuccessFactors, CEO - Great Plains Software).  Arthur Ventures specifically invests in software companies and is currently investing out of a $45M fund raised in 2013.

About CampOne Ventures
Camp One Ventures (C1V) partners with leading emerging growth businesses in the mobility, software-as-a-service and financial technology segments.   C1V provide companies with the venture capital and support they need to build world class businesses.  Portfolio companies of C1V include Aarki, Credit Sesame, One Inc. and Ripple Labs.

SOURCE Rhiza