Mention Me and PragmatIC Semiconductor Secure Funding

The sweet smell of success in the south of England.

There’s good news to share in London and Cambridge with martech Mention Me and PragmatIC Semiconductor garnering some useful tech funding.

Mention Me, a London-based “customer advocacy platform”, has secured a $25 million (£18.4 million) Series B round, led by Octopus Ventures. Lead investor from the prior round Eight Roads Ventures also participated.

Following its Series C funding in October, Cambridge-based PragmatIC Semiconductor has got a $5 million (£3.6 million) investment from Amcor.

Mention Me Gets a Mention

Mention Me says it helps businesses turn referrals into a channel for acquiring customers, while gathering first-party data for wider marketing activity.

The firm will use the funds for US expansion, investing in its partner network (which includes Klaviyo, TrustPilot, Ometria and SAP) and to develop its product offering. This includes further development of Mention Me’s approach to applying AI and machine learning to referral data.

Andy Cockburn, CEO and Co-Founder of Mention Me, mentions: “With third-party data disappearing, paid social delivering diminishing returns and consumers increasingly overwhelmed by endless brand advertising, our technology puts advocacy at the heart of marketing to reconnect marketers and consumers.”

The funding will also be used for recruitment following a series of senior hires. This includes Roy Robinson from Boxever as CPO to lead product development, Ash Rama, previously at Trustpilot, as VP People, and Rebecca Hooley joining from private equity firm Livingbridge as CFO.

As part of the Series B, Octopus Ventures Principal Uthish Ranjan will join Mention Me’s board.

Mention Me says its platform’s Referral Engineering technology has delivered more than 4.5 million referrals totalling more than $1.5 billion (£1 billion) in revenue for clients globally. Sports brand Puma, international franchise Pret a Manger, insurtech unicorn Bought By Many, and fashion retailer ASOS are among its 450-strong client base.

Mention Me was founded in 2013 and previously raised $7 million (£5 million) in a 2018 Series A.

PragmatIC Words

PragmatIC’s Series C was $80 million (£58.2 million) and its first close. The company tells eWeek UK it had ongoing discussions that lead to a further $10 million (£7.3 million) being invested.

Amcor’s investment is the aforementioned $5 million, while the other investors in this group (making up the extra $5 million) are smaller individual investors with “a keen interest in the semiconductor industry”.

PragmatIC and Amcor will work together to explore ways to integrate flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) into Amcor’s portfolio of sustainable packaging solutions

PragmatIC explains that it develops FlexICs beyond the scope of conventional electronics. Its ConnectIC family of radio frequency identification and near-field communications (RFID/NFC) integrated chips can be embedded into packaging to store and relay information to devices such as smartphones. This technology enables smart packaging applications across the product lifecycle – from manufacturing and supply chain management to consumer engagement and material recovery.

Amcor is focused on making packaging that uses less materials, is increasingly recyclable and reusable, and is made with more recycled content.

PragmatIC has manufacturing operations in the North East. Shareholders include Cambridge Innovation Capital, Arm, Avery Dennison, Amcor and individual investors with experience in the semiconductor industry.

Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton
Antony Peyton is the Editor of eWeek UK. He has 18 years' journalism and writing experience. His career has taken him to China, Japan and the UK - covering tech, fintech and business. Follow on Twitter @TonyFintech.
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