The world&'s largest social consultancy, Dachis Group, got a late Christmas present today, receiving $30 million in second round fundingあfrom previous backers Austin Ventures, CEO Jeff Dachis told VentureBeat.
Dachis Group sells software to corporations looking to better use social networking to advance their brands.
It was founded in 2008 by Silicon Valley and &''new media&'' guru Dachis, who is best known for co-founding the then-white hot Web shop Razorfish in 1995.
Dachis has been adamant in the past that his new company is not just a consultancy but instead focuses on three key themes: social business strategy, social business engagement and social business intelligence, to help businesses navigate an &''increasingly connected social world&'' to become &''social businesses.&''
The two-year-old shop has parlayed that &''everything that can be social, will be&'' philosophy into building a stable of marquee-name clients at a scorching pace.
Dachis Group has been snapping up social-business consultancies along the way, including acquiring Portland, Ore.-based Xplane, an information-design consultancy in April, after its first, $50 million round of funding from Austin Ventures in June of 2008.
It also put some of that money to work last month when it grabbed Austin-based Powered, which creates social marketing programs for more than 200 customers, its seventh acquisition since its founding.
The company currently has 300 clients, including Microsoft,あAmerican Express, AOL, AT&'T, Bud Light, CalvinあKlein, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cisco, Citibank, The Coca-Cola Company,あMcDonald&'s, HBO and Procter and Gamble.
It also estimates it services 15 percent of the Fortune 500 and operates the largest Facebook Preferred Developer services group in the world through its subsidiaries.
Dachis said it would use the money to grow most areas of its business, including attracting new talent and investing inあprocess development, knowledge sharing systems andあquality control.
It will also be aiming to expand its international presence:あDachis Group has 220 employees in ofｯｬ…es in 10 cities across ｯｬ」e countries, includingあNew York, Philadelphia, Portland,あLondon, Sydney, Amsterdam and Madrid.
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Companies: American Express, aol, AT&'T, Austin Ventures, Bud Light, Calvin Klein, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cisco, Citibank, Dachis Group, Facebook, Hbo, Mcdonald&'s, Microsoft, Powered, Procter and Gamble, razorfish, The Coca-Cola Company, Xplane
People: Jeff Dachis
Companies: American Express, aol, AT&'T, Austin Ventures, Bud Light, Calvin Klein, Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cisco, Citibank, Dachis Group, Facebook, Hbo, Mcdonald&'s, Microsoft, Powered, Procter and Gamble, razorfish, The Coca-Cola Company, Xplane
People: Jeff Dachis
Riley McDermid is a contributing reporter to VentureBeat. She was previously the online editor at institutional investing and trading forum Markets Media, which she joined in 2008 from Dow Jones/MarketWatch in New York. Her work has appeared in the The New York Times, the Associated Press, Portfolio Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and Barrona4ぎa4г. She has won awards from the American Society of Business Publishers and Editors, the Magazine Association of the Southeast, the Mississippi Press Association and the Atlanta Press Club, and was a finalist for the Pacemaker Prize for excellence in news reporting.
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