Kenshoo – The SEM automation company has raised what is considered to be an “up round”, an additional capital injection from its current backer Sequoia, for a much higher valuation. The size of the round was undisclosed, but sources told Techcrunch that the valuation was “50% higher than the last time”.
Kenshoo is in a unique position to become the next large exit out of Israel. In times like these, companies are looking for ways to attract more traffic, and Search Engine Marketing is one of the most effective ways to do that. Kenshoo SEARCH, the company’s automated campaign management software, its bidding platform and its unique focus on the quality of the campaigns help clients drive better conversions and save money on expensive consultants. Despite tough competition coming out of DoubleClick, Atlas Solutions and Omniture, Kenshoo continues to innovate and acquire new clients. It most recently integrated with Google Analytics and released an iPhone version.
Sequoia’s Mike Moritz was quoted on the official release:
“Kenshoo has built a fabulous roster of happy customers over the last year and now – while others have flipped into reverse gear – is the time for us to move into overdrive. Hence our decision to provide the financing required for Kenshoo to expand into new markets, deepen its sales coverage and hire more engineers. Kenshoo and their management team have proven their commitment to being the best and we are confident they are on the path to becoming the marketing leading provider of SEM technology”.
Kenshoo is based in Tel Aviv and led by CEO Yoav Izhar-Prato.
He is a former General Partner at Google Ventures (GV) in Europe, former head of Google for Entrepreneurs in Europe, and founding head of Campus London, Google's first startup hub. Eze writes on Israeli tech, venture capital, artificial intelligence, and founder strategy.
He is also the founder of Techbikers, a nonprofit that brings together the startup ecosystem on cycling challenges in support of Room to Read.
