Professional online networking company LinkedIn Corp. has announced that it is acquiring Israeli marketing analytics company Oribi. The acquisition of Oribi, which was cofounded by CEO Iris Shoor, a serial entrepreneur, will provide campaign managers who put paid ads on LinkedIn, with an analytics system that is easy to install and operate and is in many ways similar to Google Analytics.
LinkedIn, which was acquired five years ago by Microsoft, has attracted major criticism that its ad management interface is awkward and difficult to measure. Thus the acquisition of Oribi is a strategic move intended to intensify its competition with Facebook, Google and Twitter in the business advertising sector.
The acquisition will also allow LinkedIn to open its first development center in Israel.
Financial details about the deal have not been disclosed but market estimates are that LinkedIn is paying $80-90 million for Oribi. This would be sufficient to provide handsome returns to the investors of Oribi, which has raised $29 million from TLV Partners, Ibex, MoreTech, S-Capital and others.
Sources inform "Globes" that the offer from LinkedIn had not been expected but after it happened Oribi hired an investment bank to receive other offers, and informed LinkedIn that if the deal did not close it would raise tens of millions of dollars for a growth financing round.
Oribi has been growing in leaps and bounds in recent years and currently has 50 employees who will continuing working at the company's offices in Tel Aviv.
Oribi has been built by Shoor and her product development team to assist advertising campaign managers measure ads efficiently and easily to make their campaigns more effective. These campaigns include paid for marketing content and articles on a range of platforms. The acquisition of Oribi is good news for advertisers on LinkedIn who consider its marketing management system to be less advanced and convenient than those of Facebook and Google.
Oribi has mainly targeted small and medium sized businesses that don't need expensive marketing managing systems like corporate giants such as Salesforce, Pardot, Marketo and HubSpot. These small and medium sized businesses do need a user friendly system like the free Google Analytics. Oribi includes management systems and integration technology that allows market managers to easily install digital sensors on their website and marketing channels, such as newsletters, and social channels, without the need of any advanced technical knowhow.
Even though the buyer is LinkedIn, Oribi had approached those managing campaigns on Facebook and Google to allow a connection between newsletter and marketing systems like Mailchimp, Active Campaign and Klaviyo, which also provide options for sending marketing phone text messages.
LinkedIn chief product officer Tomer Cohen said, "We’re doubling down on attribution technology to help our customers have the actionable insights they need to create smarter campaigns. When we integrate Oribi’s technology into our platform, it will supercharge many of our current products, like website retargeting, conversion tracking and optimization. With Oribi’s technology, our customers - from marketers to recruiters - will better understand which of their marketing messages are having the greatest impact on a decision to take a desired step, such as a buyer requesting a product demo or a job seeker applying to a job posting."
Shoor said, "Our market-leading technology enables companies to achieve maximum value from their advertising strategies. Customers are able to easily measure website conversions through automated tags and code-free technology, as well as build more effective audiences. We look forward to scaling this technology to help even more customers reach and convert their professional audiences and optimize their ROI."
Shoor is a serial entrepreneur, who has previously founded other companies with partners including Visual Tao, which was acquired by Autodesk for $26 million and she was responsible for opening Autodesk's development center in Israel.
Oribi was founded in 2016 by Shoor and the entrepreneur Avishai Bitton, who left the company and is currently a VP at electronic commerce technology company 8fig.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 28, 2022.
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