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Fayetteville’s DataRank Acquired by Seattle Firm

2 min read

Fayetteville startup DataRank has been acquired by Simply Measured of Seattle, the company announced Tuesday.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Simply Measured, a social media analytics company, was recently named among Inc.’s 500 fastest growing companies. The company says more than 100,000 marketers use its social analytics platform.

DataRank, the first Arkansas startup selected for the prestigious Y Combinator accelerator in Silicon Valley, provides social media intelligence and has grown its customer base by more than 150 percent over the past year. Earlier this year, it completed a $1.4 million funding round and was recognized as one of the Innovate Arkansas program’s most successful startups.

DataRank will continue to operate in Fayetteville as a member of the Simply Measured family of companies. It employs 15 full-time workers. Co-founder and CEO Ryan Frazier will take on the title of director of corporate insight and strategy and continue to lead the DataRank team. He said there will be no immediate changes to the DataRank team or product, but noted that “down the road there will be changes.”

Frazier described Simply Measured as more of a social media marketing firm. The DataRank acquisition, he said, makes it the de facto leader in social media analytics. Last month, Simply Measured acquired another social media analytics firm, Inside Social of Seattle.

Simply Measured CEO Adam Schoenfield said the addition of DataRank enables the company to offer a solution for every step of the social intelligence process.

“The main struggle for marketers today is how to find, understand and leverage data to improve campaign performance for their brand,” said Simply Measured CEO Adam Schoenfeld in a news release. “Basing campaign decisions on passive listening and vanity metrics is no longer enough to show social ROI or justify the investment to CMOs. Marketers need real social intelligence and research to discover new opportunities, understand online conversation, and take action.” 

Frazier said the deal provides his team with more resources and a much bigger reach.

“We’re excited for this new chapter and looking forward to helping marketers and insights professionals do their best work, simply,” he said.

Frazier also noted the potential effect of the firm’s success on the tech startup ecosystem in Arkansas.

“From my point of view, I feel very strongly that this a success for the entire community to share,” he said. “The list of people who have helped us be successful is enormous. We couldn’t have done anything without them. I hope we can show that we’re still committed to Arkansas.”

Frazier said DataRank proved that tech startups in Arkansas can compete with the best on the coasts and be successful. He said he wants to help other local startups make the jump.

“We’ve always tried to show that it can be done here,” he said. “We want to be the first of many Arkansas startups to go through the Y Combinator.”

Frazier is scheduled to speak at Simply Measured’s LIFT conference on Oct. 22 in Seattle.

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