User-generated software company gets $22m funding

Looking through this week’s most-shared content marketing-related stories, Yotpo’s latest successful funding round caught the eye. TechCrunch’s coverage of the deal received around 2,500 shares across the big networks.

Yotpo is a software platform that allows companies to procure content from users. This comes in various forms and media, including video, Q&As, reviews and photos.

The company’s total funding is now estimated at around $50m (£35m).

We have long said that user-generated content (UGC) can be a double-edged sword. But only if it’s not moderated properly. Used correctly, it can prove a powerful form of brand-consumer interaction.

TechCrunch has this quote from Yotpo chief executive Tomer Tagrin. He says: “We are taking a platform approach as we see that UGC is becoming more and more important to the CMO or VP Marketing who will want one unified platform instead of dealing with four or five different vendors. So that’s one unique thing – all forms of UGC under one roof.”

The company’s main selling point is its use of mobile. Yotpo claims it is the only company dealing in user-generated content that has put mobile first. Currently, 60 per cent of its content is submitted in this way.

If this is truly the case, it seems surprising. Mobile is the main way of sharing content, especially among younger users. And while we are occasionally dismissive of content marketing management platforms (sometimes they make more work, not less), user-generated ones are different in that they help produce material.

It could just be early days for applications such as this.

User-generated software company gets $22m funding is part of Content24, the blog for London content marketing company FirstWord.