Marketing tech startup Branch valued at $4 billion after latest funding

Feb 10 (Reuters) – (This February 10 story corrects to remove reference to Android co-creator Andy Rubin in paragraph 8.)

Palo Alto-based Branch, which makes tools that help businesses measure their marketing programs, said on Thursday it raised $300 million in fresh capital that valued the company at $4 billion.

The latest fundraise was led by existing investor NEA, a venture capital firm that primarily invests in technology and healthcare companies.

Branch, whose customers include the likes of Reddit, BuzzFeed Inc (BZFD.O), Airbnb Inc (ABNB.O) and Instacart, had raised $125 million at a $1 billion valuation in a late-stage funding round in September 2019, according to data from PitchBook.

Companies like Branch have gained from a soaring investor interest, with the world’s largest investment firms such as Tiger Global and Andreessen Horowitz betting big on the technology landscape despite the recent sell-off in tech stocks.

San Francisco-based Productboard raised $125 million last week, led by Dragoneer and Tiger Global, valuing the product management software maker at $1.73 billion. read more

Branch makes solutions that power mobile linking across various platforms and helps businesses increase user engagement, allowing them to analyze the effectiveness of their marketing strategies across devices.

Founded in 2014, Branch’s tools have been used by over 100,000 brands to reach more than 3 billion monthly users in an effort to better engage with customers.

It counts billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Playground Global among its existing investors.

Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.