Opal Closes $15.5 Million Series B Investment Led by Accel

PORTLAND, OR--(Marketwired - February 16, 2017) - Opal (www.workwithopal.com) is pleased to announce it has closed a $15.5 million Series B investment led by Accel, a Bay Area-based venture capital firm that has invested in and helped build world-class, category leading companies. Opal, the leading collaboration platform for brand marketing teams, has set the standard for best-in-class enterprise software that is purpose-built for the world's most innovative marketers.

"Enterprise collaboration has long been an area of focus and interest for us. Accel is an early investor in Atlassian, Dropbox, Slack, Invision and Frame.io, and we're thrilled to partner with Opal to build the next great collaboration platform for marketers," said Arun Mathew, partner at Accel.

Mathew will join Opal's Board of Directors. The round closed on January 30, 2017 and also included a significant investment by Seattle-based Madrona Venture Group, Opal's Series A lead. Existing investors Seven Peaks Ventures, based in Bend, Ore., and MMC Ventures, based in London, also participated in the round.

"It is exciting to bring one of the top venture capital firms in the world into the Portland market for the first time. Accel is the perfect partner to join the team as we enter the next phase of growth," said Opal CEO and co-founder Steve Giannini. "We admire the types of companies, entrepreneurs and visions Accel has backed over the years and we are confident that together we will make Opal the world-leader in collaboration software that will unite brand marketing teams and transform the way they work."

The Opal Platform connects people throughout the brand marketing process with a human experience, backed by enterprise technology that is scalable, secure and easily integrates into existing marketing tools. Marketing teams work together in Opal to seamlessly produce consistent, cohesive stories, campaigns, content and brand communications. The result is a more efficient and effective execution of brand strategy, with details collaboratively built and ultimately visualized across any channel.

The world's leading marketing teams use Opal's StoryFirst™ framework to orchestrate the brand marketing process -- including Starbucks, Target, Microsoft, Airbnb, Nestlé, HP, Intel, NASA and Nike. Industry leaders have embraced Opal's commitment to innovation and customer success.

"The human connection for Opal is massive," said Eric Toda of Airbnb. "They are dedicated to my success and my team's success as much as my team is."

Founded in 2011, Opal previously raised an $8 million Series A round led by Madrona Venture Group in 2014, and has experienced rapid growth in both customer adoption and expansion.

"In the two and a half years since we invested in Opal, the team has built an elite set of customers who use Opal's market-leading platform to harmonize brand messaging, reaching billions of people around the world. We are delighted to have Accel join us as a valued partner," said Len Jordan, Opal board member and Managing Director at Madrona.

Opal boasts a talented team based out of its Portland headquarters, with offices in New York and London. With the fresh funding, the company plans to significantly expand its team of world-class software designers and developers, sales humans and customer success professionals. Opal will open an additional office in San Francisco by the end of 2017, and continue to expand its presence in Europe.

About Opal

Opal is the place where brand marketing teams work together. Founded in 2011, Opal is backed by Accel, Madrona Venture Group, Seven Peaks Ventures, InterWest Partners, MMC Ventures and Oregon Angel Fund. Teams who use Opal include world-class marketers from Airbnb, Burberry, Keen, Levi's, Intel, Microsoft, Nestlé, Nike, REI, Skullcandy, Target, NASA and more. For more information visit www.workwithopal.com.