Pursway Raises $6M to Help Companies Find Social Influencers

Malcolm Gladwell kicks off The Tipping Point by telling the resurgence story of Hush Puppies, a brand of fuzzy, casual footwear for men. In 1994, the shoes were barely selling and parent company Wolverine was contemplating phasing out the brand, when a bunch of fashionable hipsters living in downtown Manhattan started wearing them (perhaps ironically) to clubs and bars in the city, bringing the brand back from the brink. Soon, other fashionistas started wearing them, designers started featuring them in their collections, and Hush Puppies made their way back into the mainstream. By 1996, sales had grown to 50 times the level of 1994. Gladwell concluded that it was the first few tastemakers, or influencers, who sparked the trend. “What we are really saying, is that in a given process or system, some people matter more than others,” Gladwell wrote.

Israeli startup Pursway, is trying to help companies identify those people within their customer bases. Besides helping companies find influencers on Facebook and Twitter, the company also searches blogs to find people who actively write and promote brand and products. According to co-founder Ran Shaul, a small percentage of social influencers (about 10%) impact as much as 70% of buying decisions, and by actively targeting them, consumer companies will be able to more effectively leverage viral and word-of-mouth marketing, and attain a higher ROI on marketing spend.

Battery, a well known Boston venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco and Israel, see and believes in Pursway’s vision. Yesterday, Battery poured $6M in venture funding into Pursway. Pursway plans to use the expansion capital to expand in North America and Europe, and to hire more engineers for ongoing product development.

Interestingly, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter have the most information about and direct access to influencers. By creating an opt-in system that would allow more proactive contextual marketing to influencers, consumer brands could better leverage viral and influencer marketing, influencers would get free merchandise, and social media sites could better monetize their users.