New York — Piano, the leading content monetization and audience intelligence technology company, today announces it raised a $22M Series B funding round, led by Updata Partners. This comes as a result of Piano’s recent successes and corresponding growth, equipping it to build on star products and expand into new markets and sectors.
The award-winning Piano platform is comprised of an integrated suite of intelligent business tools and includes a subscription commerce engine (Piano VX), a customer experience toolkit (Piano Composer), and a user management system (Piano ID) that work in concert to create a seamless customer experience and develop sustainable business models. Its effectiveness is easily apparent; in the past year Piano has doubled its client base, adding more than 50 enterprise clients including powerhouses like Hearst and The Daily Beast. In just three years it has grown to power over a thousand premium media brands including Business Insider, The Economist,Bloomberg, Men’s Health, AdAge, Digiday, The Chive and more. Piano currently employs 180 staff members across seven offices from New York and London to Rio De Janeiro.
“This funding will allow us to continue to serve our growing client base by enhancing our products and services, helping content businesses build dedicated audiences and grow their profitability,” said Piano CEO Trevor Kaufman. “Our platform gives content companies a 360 degree view of their audience, and uses that data to drive the optimal messages, experiences, and offers. Our goal is to help every website grow their loyal user base, and to turn those users into retained, paying customers.”
The new funds will be used to grow across all of Piano’s functions, particularly in R&D and client services, as the company consolidates its leadership position in media and responds to market demand in new verticals. Piano is also considering several acquisitions.
Piano’s international growth is already well underway. In 2018 Piano opened its European headquarters in Amsterdam and announced significant wins with Global Media Group, The Independent, Le Parisien and Les Échos using the Piano platform. Piano Europe has seen significant year-over-year growth, increasing first half revenue from new business by 278% since 2017.
“Piano’s platform enables traditional content companies and digital-first entrants to succeed in a changing customer landscape by driving subscription and other revenue streams from their audiences,“ said Jon Seeber, General Partner of Updata Partners. “We’re excited to partner with Trevor and the rest of the Piano team to continue their leadership as the subscription and audience management platform for content businesses. As Piano enters its next phase of growth, we look forward to supporting the team as they expand the solution within media, and beyond.”