2009 Minnesota Cup winner
8th Bridge (formerly Alvenda) looks to sustain its momentum following its recent $10 million in a series B funding round led by venture firm Trident Capital. Split Rock Partners also participated.
8thBridge's social commerce platform monetizes social media for some of the largest merchants in the world. The e-commerce pioneer opened the first Facebook retail store for 1-800-Flowers in July 2009. More merchants followed, and 8th Bridge-powered stores made $100,000 in daily sales by December 2010, according to the company's website.
The new round of funding grew out of "accelerated demand" from merchants, says CEO and Founder Wade Gerten in a press release. The funding will be used to enhance the company's technology platform, 8thBridge StoreCast.
Planned enhancements include improving the ability to receive highly personalized offers based on interests, to take advantage of special social promotions, and to receive rewards for advocating for favorite merchants.
8thBridge changed its name from Alvenda in January. The name "is a nod to the company's pioneering development of social graph-based commerce, stemming from the Seven Bridges of K�nigsberg, the historical mathematical problem that served as the genesis of Euler's Graph Theory," states the release.
Source: 8th Bridge
Writer: Jeremy Stratton