Socialware Inc. raises $4.2M
Social media management software maker Socialware Inc. has closed on a nearly $4.2 million Series A round of financing.
Austin-based Socialware, which develops a new category of software called social middleware, received the capital from 10 investors, according to a Monday filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Investors include Austin-based venture capital firm Silverton Partners, G-51 Capital and the California-based Floodgate Fund LP, CEO Chad Bockius said.
The capital was raised for future purposes rather than to fund immediate initiatives. “We will grow the business alongside market opportunities,” he said.
Socialware, which was founded in 2008, employs 20 workers. In September 2009, the company reported receiving $2.1 million, which was the first tranche of the round, Bockius said.
The company was co-founded by Chris Richter and Cameron Cooper, both early employees and developers at Bazaarvoice Inc., an Austin-based company that manages online customer communities for clients such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT). Richter was also an early employee of Webify Solutions Inc., an Austin-based software maker acquired in 2006 by IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM) for an undisclosed amount.
Cooper, Socialware’s chief technology officer, was also a software engineer at Crossroads Systems Inc., an Austin-based software maker that is also a portfolio company of Silverton Partners.
In January, Richter stepped down from the CEO position while the company searched for an interim replacement. He subsequently left the company and Bockius, the former vice president of marketing, was appointed CEO.