Cava News
Cava Capital leads Series II investment in LocalResponse
LocalResponse Closes $5 Million in Additional Financing,
Establishes Leadership Position in “Check-In” Based Advertising
New York, NY, October 11, 2011- LocalResponse, the “check-in” based ad network, announces $5 million in additional equity financing today. New investors Cava Capital, Vodafone Ventures, Advancit Capital, and Progress Ventures join existing investors Metamorphic Ventures, Extreme Venture Partners, FF Ventures, Acadia Woods Partners and Jim Pallotta, amongst others. LocalResponse will use the proceeds to scale its sales team across the country, solidify the enterprise version of its product for brands and agencies, and augment distribution channels for its ads.
LocalResponse aggregates “explicit check-ins” from check-in services, such as Foursquare, and creates “implicit check-ins” from natural language and geo-tags in updates and photos on social networks like Twitter and Facebook. LocalResponse then helps marketers respond to these individuals in context with a relevant ad/offer, as well as providing detailed analytics about their customers’ actual foot traffic. LocalResponse customers include over 40 of the world’s largest brands including General Motors,Walgreens, Microsoft, McDonald’s, USA Networks, Aveda, Coca-Cola and Verizon. Ads are performing at an average of 40% click through rate (CTR), over 100 times the current CTR on online and mobile advertisements today.
“We’re super excited to have investors who believe, in making the holy grail of location-based advertising come true. Tweet that you’re excited to watch X-Factor, and don’t be surprised to see an X-Factor ad on a digital billboard near you. Take a picture at a Yankees game and get an offer for a free beer from a nearby vendor. Check-in to a local retailer, and get an offer from them unlocking their latest promotion. It’s all on the table now” says CEO and co-founder Nihal Mehta.
“LocalResponse is next generation targeting and it’s exciting to have the backing of these investors. All other types of targeting is an approximation. Whether its demo, behavioral, contextual, look-a-like or social – it’s still approximating. Our platform allows marketers to know where people are and what they are saying in real time and react via mobile”, says Kathy Leake, President and Co-Founder.
About LocalResponse:
LocalResponse is the world’s first cross-platform “check-in” based ad network, helping marketers reach individuals in the most contextual, local medium. LocalResponse, based in Chelsea NYC, is co-founded by digital advertising pioneers Nihal Mehta (founder ipsh!, sold to Omnicom in 2005 & early investor in Admob), Kathy Leake (co-founder Media6Degrees), and Michael Muse; and is backed by Cava Capital, Vodafone Ventures, Metamorphic Ventures, Extreme Venture Partners, Progress Ventures, Jim Pallotta and others.
About Cava Capital:
Cava targets Go-to-Market stage investments (Series A and B) in next generation marketing solutions companies primarily in the Metro New York region. We are business builders, actively assisting our CEO’s in the critical areas of Sales, Business Development and team building, bringing our exceptional and deep network to each and every
portfolio company to help drive success.
For more information, please visit:
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Cava Capital invests in Zadspace, Inc. Series B
Cutting-Edge Advertising Software Company Zadspace Closes
Financing, Relocates to Connecticut
NORWALK, CT, March 23, 2011 – Zadspace Inc. announced today that it has closed a $3.2 million Series B round of venture investment led by Connecticut Innovations and DFJ Frontier. New investors Cava Capital, LaunchCapital, and David F. Zucker joined the round along with existing investors Crosscut Ventures and The Gideon Hixon Fund. In connection with the financing, Zucker and Pauline Murphy of Connecticut Innovations joined the company’s board of
directors. Zadspace has raised over $6 million to date.
Zadspace’s proprietary software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based platform enables retailers to deliver highly targeted advertisements on 4” x 6” color labels affixed to packages shipped to consumers. The company’s platform enables advertisers to more effectively target qualified prospects in an exclusive and uncluttered environment. Zadspace’s retail partners earn revenue on each labeled package shipped.
Zadspace will primarily use the new funding to grow its distribution network and to increase its
client base of advertisers.
The company also announced today that it has engaged Jeff Giordano as executive board member and interim CEO. Giordano previously served as chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association and has successfully built and sold several direct marketing service companies.
Finally, Zadspace announced today that it has relocated its corporate headquarters from California to Norwalk, Connecticut, a hub of the direct marketing community. Connecticut Innovations was instrumental in attracting the company to the area. “Advertising is rapidly shifting toward highly personalized, time-sensitive, and relevant placements,” said Peter Longo, president and executive director, Connecticut Innovations. “Zadspace’s clever approach dovetails dynamic targeting technology with a unique physical placement and delivery mechanism. The results to date have been extremely impressive, and we are thrilled to support the company.” Longo added, “We are delighted that Zadspace chose to relocate to Connecticut. The company is an outstanding addition to Connecticut’s expanding community of high-tech ventures.” “Today’s advertisers are looking for cost-effective, measurable media to deliver personalized messages to consumers,” said Geoff Schneider, lead partner, Cava Capital. “Of all the advertising
networks we’ve encountered over the past few years, Zadspace represents the best combination of an exciting new medium with obvious advantages for the entire value chain in an era where postal rates are ever-increasing and ROI is paramount.”
“I’m most excited by Zadspace’s ability to grow into a unique, targeted and, most importantly, responsive new media channel. The ability to ultimately deliver 80 million household impressions annually will make Zadspace invaluable for any multi-channel marketer,” said Giordano.
About Zadspace
Zadspace is a privately held, venture-backed technology company headquartered in Connecticut. Zadspace endeavors to “make every offer received relevant to the consumer.” Through technological innovation, Zadspace has created a better way to deliver targeted, one-to-one marketing messages.
About Cava Capital
Cava targets Go-to-Market stage investments (Series A and B) in next generation marketing solutions companies primarily in the Metro New York region. We are business builders, actively assisting our CEO’s in the critical areas of Sales, Business Development and team building, bringing our exceptional and deep network to each and every
portfolio company to help drive success.
About Connecticut Innovations
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public organization dedicated to driving a vibrant, entrepreneurial, technology-based economy in Connecticut. CI stimulates high-tech growth by investing in: early-stage Connecticut technology companies; university/industry research collaborations; technology transfer; and, clean energy initiatives through the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund. CI also fosters collaboration among government, business, nonprofit and academic organizations to advance technology growth and promotes public policies consistent with CI’s mission. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
For more information on Cava, please visit
www.cavacapital.com.
Contacts:
Todd Outten, Founder and President
Zadspace, Inc.
press@zadspace.com
www.zadspace.com
Geoff Schneider, Managing Partner
Cava Capital
info@cavacapital.com
www.cavacapital.com
Emily Smith, Managing Director, External Relations
Connecticut Innovations
(860) 257-2337
emily.smith@ctinnovations.com
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The Wilton Bulletin
Written by Joan Lownds
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
At Cava Capital, the motto is simply “Companies grow here.” That’s the driving principle behind the company, which Geoff Schneider, founder and managing partner, described as “an innovative early stage venture firm. We are dedicated to providing appropriate levels of capital and significant hands-on guidance to exciting entrepreneurs with pioneering ideas.”
The early stages are crucial, according to Mr. Schneider. “At Cava Capital, we believe it is exactly this time and energy spent working with entrepreneurs at the earliest business stages that is core to a company’s progress,” he said.
Along with providing “significant capital,” Cava Capital helps companies implement a “strategic business framework they can utilize going forward,” which includes revisiting and analyzing their business models.
“We are here to work with our entrepreneurs, helping to architect the right vision for each company at the earliest stages of its life cycle,” Mr. Schneider said....
Cava Capital invests in etouches, Inc. Series A
Online Event Management Software Solution
New York, NY. June 3, 2010 – Cava Capital recently announced its Series A investment in etouches, Inc., a CT based software as a service (SaaS) company for the online event management industry. Premier deal syndicate partners include Greycroft and CT Innovations.
etouches is a web‐based SaaS provider to the multi-billion dollar global meeting and event technology marketplace. The award‐winning software solution enables clients to realize the benefits of consolidation and control with simple web‐based tools for easy user adoption. etouches features a suite of web‐based hosted software in a modular design which facilitates effective and efficient management of all phases of the event lifecycle. The suite includes a real‐time dashboard view of event performance to support the closed loop process for spend management, marketing demand generation, and predictive analysis. Serving over 2,000 global event programs annually, the customer base includes top tier companies such as Volkswagen, Dell, and The Financial Times.
“We are excited to be investing in a great business alongside quality investment partners,” says Geoff Schneider, managing partner at Cava Capital. “etouches continues to add to an already impressive list of customers and the market for such online solutions is growing. The Management Team, the Board of Directors and Advisors have extensive sector expertise and we feel very confident in their ability to continue to drive growth.”
For more information, please visit:
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Cava Capital welcomes new Managing Partner, Peg Jackson
Early Stage Venture Investments in Metro New York
New York, NY. May 17, 2010 – Cava Capital is pleased to announce the hiring of new Managing Partner, Peg Jackson, who brings a tremendous background of investing and operating expertise from over 15 years at NeoCarta Ventures, NBC and Reuters. Peg joined NeoCarta Ventures in May, 2000, investing in the technology sector and managing the portfolio. Peg was on the board of several companies including SilverPop, Zoom Systems, Cendura (acquired by Computer Associates), Datasynapse (acquired by Tibco) and Myrio (acquired by Siemens).
Prior to joining NeoCarta Ventures, Peg was Vice-President of Business Development at NBC. She joined NBC in 1996, making investments in Internet and Interactive TV companies. In addition, she managed a production group that developed NBC’s interactive TV programming. Exits include Tivo (TIVO) and LivePerson (LPSN).
Prior to NBC, Jackson worked in the business development group at Reuters New Media, where she managed new acquisition and joint venture projects. Jackson was also employed as a Media Analyst for the Toronto Dominion Bank.
Cava Capital combines operational talent with venture expertise. The fund targets early stage, capital efficient Media and Financial Technology companies in the Metro NY area. “We wrap business understanding around good ideas,” says Peg Jackson. “We provide entrepreneurs essential resources at a critical time in their company development. From spending time optimizing sales and business model strategies to helping with management team build-out and product side expertise, we’re available to help.”
With few sources of focused capital in the area and access to a ton of quality deals, there is huge opportunity. “Startups are starving for capital and venture partners with an active approach,” says Geoff Schneider, Founder and Managing Partner of Cava. “Peg is a premier venture capitalist and brings tremendous experience to our team. New York is on fire and it’s the right time to be an early stage investor in this market.”
For more information, please visit:
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Industry News
Survey: Most CMOs To Boost Social Media Budgets In 2010 (And It Had Better Pay Off)
Dec. 9 - Nearly two-thirds of chief marketing officers plan to increase social media budgets in the next year, but they are also expecting more in return, according to a new study. The survey of 133 CMOs, conducted by social commerce company Bazaarvoice and the CMO Club, found that nearly three-quarters who didn't attach revenue expectations to social media spending in 2009 will start doing so next year.
Patricof Discusses Venture Capital Funding, IPO Market: Video
Nov. 23 - Alan Patricof, founder and managing partner of Greycroft Partners LP, talks with Bloomberg's Betty Liu, Jon Erlichman and Adam Johnson about venture capital funding.