Boston’s Mavrck has acquired Vancouver’s Later, a visual marketing platform that allows businesses to manage their Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, TikTok, and LinkedIn accounts, from end to end.
Mavrck is a leading influencer marketing platform for enterprise consumer brands.
Originally named Latergramme and rebranded as Later.com, the Vancouver startup was the first Instagram scheduling tool. Later also offers a feature called Linkin.bio which redirects Instagram users to the actual landing page when they click on a post.
Later was named one of Techcouver’s 10 homegrown B.C. startups to watch in 2022 and it turns out we were right.
Mavrck’s acquisition was funded by a USD $135 million strategic investment by global growth equity investor Summit Partners and represents a follow-on to the firm’s earlier $120 million investment in Mavrck.
According to today’s announcement, Later will continue to operate as a standalone product and business unit, while working together with Mavrck to solve creator measurement and monetization at scale, to better serve both sides of the ecosystem — brands and creators. Later currently has a staff of over 175 employees.
Almost 7 million creators and small business owners use Later’s suite of social media tools to visually plan and schedule social content, drive traffic, and increase their sales.
Since its launch in 2016, Later’s Linkin.bio feature, one of the first Instagram bio link tools of its kind, has generated over 2 billion pageviews for users worldwide, capturing valuable insights on the social profiles and content that drive traffic.
The acquisition follows a period of substantial revenue growth for Later and will help to further accelerate growth by expanding its business solutions for small businesses and creators. Last year Later landed 16th on the Technology Fast 50 list with revenue growth of 1,074% and ranked #51 on the Globe and Mail’s 2021 Top Growing Companies list with 1,164% revenue growth.
“We’ve built a phenomenal platform designed to help small businesses and entrepreneurs to manage their digital marketing, commerce, and customer relationships all in one place. Our notable scale is a result of the commitment we’ve placed on our role within that ecosystem,” said Roger Patterson, Co-Founder and CEO of Later.
“Later’s leading technology paired with Mavrck’s enterprise social proof platform will expand on that value even further. Together we’ll nurture a symbiotic relationship between creators and brands, helping both to drive meaningful results to grow their businesses.”
Later was co-founded by Cindy Chen, Ian MacKinnon, Roger Patterson, and Matt Smith in 2014.
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