Involver, Inc.

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Involver, Inc. was a provider of social media management software, offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools to help businesses manage their marketing efforts on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It was acquired by Oracle on July 10, 2012. [1]

Founded in San Francisco in 2007 by Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton, the company was originally known as RapOuts, Inc. and changed its name to Involver Inc. in August, 2008. [2] The company offers software and services to publish, manage, moderate and measure customer relations across the social web.

In 2008, Involver powered advertising campaigns on Facebook for several customers [3] [4] [5] and its founders were named to Inc. Magazine's top 30 entrepreneurs under 30 list. [6]

Involver was the technology platform that powered the first sponsorship of a Facebook Page [7] and the first studio album from a recording artist that was released through a social network. [8]

Involver was recommended by Facebook as one of 14 original "Preferred Developer Consultants." [9] Facebook partnered with Involver to build applications for large events like Election Day, [10] The World Cup, [11] and the Super Bowl. [12]

Involver raised venture capital money from Bessemer Venture Partners, Western Technology Investment, and Cervin Ventures. [13]

Involver's main competitors in this space were Buddy Media (acquired by Salesforce.com [14] ), Vitrue (also acquired by Oracle Corporation [15] ), and Wildfire (acquired by Google [16] ).

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References

    • "Oracle Buys Involver to Expand in Social-Media Tools".
    • "Oracle and Involver".
  1. "Involver Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek". August 14, 2012.
  2. "Kiva Launches Facebook Campaign Using New Marketing Tool, Involver". July 9, 2008. Archived from the original on August 2, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
  3. "Olympic Torch Protesters Go Viral to Rally Support". April 7, 2008.
  4. "Case Study: How a Software Company Generated Strong Click-Through Rates on Facebook". August 19, 2008.
  5. "Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 - Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton, Involver". Inc.com. Sep 29, 2008.
  6. "'Us Weekly' Sells Facebook Fan Page Ad to State Farm". April 23, 2009.
  7. "Alicia Keys Streams New Album On Facebook". December 7, 2009.
  8. "Facebook Creates List of "Preferred Developer Consultants"".
  9. "Facebook Helps You Find Your Polling Place". Mashable .
  10. "Facebook, Involver Launch FIFA World Cup Leaderboard".
  11. "Watch 2012 Super Bowl Commercials Now With Facebook + USA Today's Ad Meter".
  12. "Involver Closes $8 Million Series C For Its Social Media Marketing Platform".
  13. "Salesforce.com closes deal for Buddy Media".
  14. "Oracle Buys Vitrue to Add Cloud Social Marketing to App Portfolio".
  15. "Google Snaps Up Wildfire".