SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- InboundWriter®, the first online content optimization system designed specifically for writers, today announced the appointment of Skip Besthoff as its chief executive officer. The company has also announced that under Besthoff's leadership it has raised $2.5 million in additional funding from existing and new investors to accelerate its expansion into the enterprise market. In a separate announcement today, InboundWriter announced the immediate commercial availability of its new Enterprise tier online content optimization software for content producers.
"The opportunity for InboundWriter to make sophisticated online content optimization as 'simple as a spellcheck' is huge," said Besthoff. "Our software is critical for writers and marketers to make sure the online content they produce can achieve their desired results of driving traffic, ranking and engagement."
Besthoff joins the management team after being a long-time board member and investor in the company through Castile Ventures. He has a deep understanding of the online content optimization software landscape and is well-positioned to lead the company, having worked closely with InboundWriter executives for the last few years. Most recently, he has been instrumental in crafting the enterprise market expansion strategy for InboundWriter, which is being rolled out today and will be the company's focus in the coming year. Besthoff has 20 years of expertise in digital media and software-related business as an investor, developer and strategist.
In conjunction with the development of the enterprise market expansion strategy, the company has raised $2.5 million to support product development and go-to-market efforts. Existing investors Castile Ventures, Rho Canada Ventures, Formative Ventures and The Entrepreneurs' Fund III have contributed to the additional investment along with new investor, Crosslink Capital.
Crosslink Capital is a leading stage-independent venture capital and growth equity firm with over $1.8 billion in assets. For the past 20 years, Crosslink Capital has invested in more than 100 private equity portfolio companies, at the early, mid, and late stages, including Omniture (acquired by Adobe Systems), Marin Software, Pandora, Ancestry.com, and many others. Crosslink's lead partner for this investment, David Silverman, has deep expertise in the web content market having previously invested in Omniture and Demand Media.
"With the explosion of Internet content coupled with the increasing emphasis on online content quality from platforms such as Google and Facebook, InboundWriter has tremendous potential to help content producers reach their audiences," said Silverman. "InboundWriter is a highly attractive opportunity for Crosslink and I'm looking forward to working with the new CEO, Skip Besthoff, and his team to further propel InboundWriter's leadership in the content marketing space."
"Today InboundWriter is introducing its next generation online content optimization software, which incorporates sophisticated functionality designed for large and medium-sized enterprises in order to enable them to drive online content marketing in an automated and scalable manner," added Besthoff. "The $2.5 million we've just raised will go a long way towards InboundWriter's expansion into the enterprise market."
More information about InboundWriter is available at www.inboundwriter.com.
About InboundWriter
InboundWriter develops cloud-based software that incorporates real-time information gathered from the web to automate the process of optimizing online content. The application naturally integrates tailored best practices and deep insights directly into the writing process. InboundWriter drives dramatic improvements in both paid and organic site traffic as well as search engine ranking, making it an indispensable tool for improving content reach and engagement. An award-winning product, InboundWriter is the recipient of the 2012 People's Choice Stevie Award for Favorite Marketing / PR Solution. For more information, visit www.inboundwriter.com, read the blog or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
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