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08/03/12 | Uncategorized

Female Founders To Watch: Enterprise Social Marketing Companies

Social media marketing serving the masses means high-growth startups – creating lots of value and jobs.
By Angie Chang (Co-Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Women 2.0)

PITCH 2010 Startup Competition finalist Amita Paul pitched Objective Marketer onstage at the November conference. A few months later, Objective Marketer was acquired by Emailvision!

This year, we’ve seen big exits from social media marketing companies, starting with Buddy Media (co-founded by COO Kass Lazerow) getting acquired by Salesforce for a whopping $689M), Involver was acquired by Oracle while Wildfire Interactive (co-founded by CEO Victoria Ransom) was acquired by Google for $250M.

While social media marketing has been a solid business for consultants, these large exits by enterprise social marketing companies have made enterprise software a lucrative high-growth businesses can employ hundreds of people.

Here are women to watch building and/or exiting enterprise social marketing companies:

Amanda MacNaughton (Co-Founder & CMO, PromoJam)
Los Angeles-based Amanda MacNaughton and her brother run PromoJam, a social marketing platform for the entertainment industry. PromoJam raised $1.2M in funding from Golden Seeds and Band of Angels in March 2012. Follow her on Twitter at @AmandaMalia.

Amita Paul (Founder & CEO, Objective Marketer)
PITCH 2010 finalist Amita Paul founded Objective Marketer in 2009. The company was acquired by Emailvision for an undisclosed amount in January 2011. Amita currently runs social ad products at Glam Media. Follow her on Twitter at @amitapaul.

Clara Shih (Founder & CEO, Hearsay Social & Board Member, Starbucks)
PITCH 2007 finalist Clara Shih has gone on to launch enterprise social media software company Hearsay Social, raise $21M in venture funding, publish The Facebook Era and gain a seat on the board of directors for Starbucks. Follow her on Twitter at @clarashih.

Gretchen DeKnikker (Co-Founder, SocialPandas)
After a decade of launching and growing enterprise SaaS startups and platforms, Gretchen DeKnikker is launching her own early-stage social selling solution (“SCRM”) SocialPandas. She blogs about the journey at Enterprise is Sexy. Follow her on Twitter at @gretchende.

Kass Lazerow (Co-Founder & COO, Buddy Media)
After selling Golf.com to Time in 2006, Kass Lazerow and her husband started social media management software company Buddy Media, raising four rounds of funding before Salesforce acquired Buddy Media for $689M in June 2012. Follow her on Twitter at @kasslazerow.

Victoria Ransom (Founder & CEO, Wildfire Interactive)
New Zealand entrepreneur Victoria Ransom founded Wildfire Interactive for businesses to engage and monetize their audiences across social channels. Wildfire Interactive was acquired by Google for $250M in July 2012. Follow her on Twitter at @victoria_ransom.

Have a female-founded startup on a high-growth trajectory? Shooting for the stars? Apply to PITCH NYC by August 31, 2012 for a chance to pitch onstage at Women 2.0’s conference this November in front of an audience of investors and entrepreneurs.

Applications are being accepted from startups located around the world. Start your application now and be sure to submit everything by August 31, 2012 to be eligible to win!

Angie Chang co-founded Women 2.0 in 2006. She currently serves as Editor-In-Chief of Women 2.0 and is working to mainstream women in high-growth, high-tech entrepreneurship. Previously, Angie held roles in product management and web UI design. In 2008, Angie launched Bay Area Girl Geek Dinners, asking that guys come as the “+1” for once. Angie holds a B.A. in English and Social Welfare from UC Berkeley. Follow her on Twitter at @thisgirlangie.

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