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Edison Partners – Fuels Growth For Next Generation Startup Companies

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Edison Partners is a growth equity firm that focuses on technology-enabled solutions in the Eastern United States. After six successful exits in the last four months, Edison Partners recently announced leading an $18 Million Series C financing of Tracx. Our interview below is with Kelly Ford, Partner & Chief Marketing Officer at Edison Partners:

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Q: How does Edison Partners differ from other venture capital firms?

A: Edison’s growth equity investment strategy, industry focus, long-tenured team and record of success make us different. What is truly unique about the firm, though, is our Edison Edge value-added services platform, which offers companies advisory capabilities, access to a deep and broad network, and executive education programs to accelerate growth.

Q: At what stage does Edison Partners invest?

A: We focus on growth stage companies, which typically have a revenue run rate of $5-$25 million and are growing at 25+% annually.

Related: An Interview With Ron Miller, CEO Of Los Angeles Based Accelerator StartEngine

Q: What are Edison Partners investment criteria and what target areas are the most interest to you?

A: We invest in four specific technology industry categories: interactive marketing, enterprise 2.0, financial technology and healthcare. The key attributes of these companies are: high growth (prior to taking capital), product completeness (use of Edison investment primarily to further innovation, sales and marketing) and a strong management team.

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Q: You recently announced leading an $18 million Series C financing of Tracx, tell us something more?

A: After completing six successful exits in the last four months, Tracx is our first new investment of 2015. We’re particularly excited about the Tracx opportunity because the value of social data is strategic and their unified social intelligence platform and solution-based approach are uniquely helping leading brands apply social and real-time actionable data horizontally across the enterprise. The market has matured past v1.0 vendors for social media monitoring into specific business use cases for social CRM that inform the marketing organization, real-time customer support, customer insights and product development.

Competitors in the social analytics or engagement segments are loosely configured solutions that lack integration capabilities. Tracx stands out for its rich feature set, seamless integration between analytics and engagement, intuitive user experience, and hooks into various enterprise systems.

Related: P2Binvestor – Crowdfunded Loans For Growing Businesses

Q: What should startups look for in a venture capital partners?

A: Three things:

  1. Industry expertise. With industry-specific focus comes a relevant network and context that can be extremely valuable to company growth. CEOs/founders need investors who not only have seen the movie, but seen their movie.
  2. Value beyond capital. The best investor is a partner – a trusted source for counsel, executive education and operational know-how. Access to a relevant, proven network is also important for peer perspective, talent, board members and/or consultants.
  3. Local. With a local investor, companies get the benefit of local networks, which is especially useful for access to talent. There’s also easier access to your investor, and a better chance of cultural fit.

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