SocialToaster closes $1.9M funding round, acquires LA firm

SocialToaster wants to start popping up in more places.
The ETC-based social media marketing company closed a $1.9 million bridge round.
With the new money, SocialToaster plans to grow into markets like Los Angeles, New York and potentially London.
The LA expansion is already off and running, as SocialToaster also announced the acquisition of FLG Psyche, a marketing firm that has a big footprint in the electronic music scene. FLG Psyche makes a software platform that relies on “influencers” to get more exposure for clients.
The two firms have been working together for about 18 months, said SocialToaster CEO Brian Razzaque.
“They have been using our platform for quite some time to manage fan programs for their clients,” Razzaque said.
With the acquisition, SocialToaster will bring on five new employees, upping its total to 31.
Another new project involves a move towards self-serve. Right now, SocialToaster is primarily focused on using its capabilities to help enterprise clients grow an audience of its most active users, known as superfans. Those enterprise clients often want to run social media sweepstakes or contests, which have a lot of additional costs for legal and other overhead.
The company has a new platform in development that will help smaller organizations and individuals get in touch with those superfans, without the overhead.
“Because it’s more of a loyalty type of initiative, it doesn’t have the same legal complexities,” Razzaque said.
The self-serve platform is expected to be available in June. Early adopters can sign up here.
Investors in the latest round include Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank’s Sagamore Ventures, London-based investor David Abrams, SFP Capital and former Medifast exec Paul Intlekofer.
It marks Plank’s third investment of the year. Sagamore’s name previously showed up in funding rounds for D.C.-based flower-delivery service, UrbanStems, and San Diego-based sports score aggregation service, ScoreStream.