Simply Measured captures the 2013 Startup of the Year Award.
Simply Measured captures the 2013 Startup of the Year Award.

Simply Measured, a quickly growing social media analytics startup, announced on Tuesday it has acquired its first company, a fellow Seattle startup called Inside Social.

The two companies are working now to integrate their products into what they say will be platform that gives social media marketers “full-funnel insights” into how their brands should approach sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Inside SocialSimply Measured was founded in 2010 and now has more than 130 employees. The company raised $20 million in 2014, after being named GeekWire’s 2013 Startup of the Year. Its platform has been picking up steam for a while now, offering tools to help big brands like Pepsi, American Express and Samsung track social media traffic and identify influencers.

Inside Social, meanwhile, has grown to about 10 employees since it graduated from Techstars Seattle accelerator program in 2013. It’s product helps marketers track social media results, proving return on investment.

Together, the idea is that Simply Measured’s platform won’t just be able to tell marketers where to focus their efforts, they’ll be able to show them how those strategies are paying off.

The like-minded startups first met back when Simply Measured co-founder Aviel Ginzburg mentored Inside Social when it was a four-person team working its way through Techstars.

It’s not exactly traditional for companies to join the acquisition markets before growing out of startup-status themselves, but it’s something we’ve seen more of recently as venture capital financing becomes more readily available to growing firms like Simply Measured. In July, international payments company Remitly acquired Talio, another fellow startup and Techstars Seattle graduate.

“It’s rare and amazing to see things come full circle like this,” Ginzburg said in a press release announcing the Inside Social acquisition. “I’ve seen first hand the hard work and dedication of the Inside Social team and watched as their product developed from just an idea to a solution that addresses a huge issue for marketers. Between the team and the technology, it’s really the perfect fit for both parties.”

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