DemandJump attracts more big-name investors with $1.8M round

Fresh off winning two awards at Indiana's largest technology event in April, and still amped from luring prominent local investment firms for its seed round last fall, software startup DemandJump LLC announced Thursday that it raised $1.8 million in equity financing.

The 1-year-old company, based near 106th and Meridian streets, sells "artificial intelligence marketing" software. It walked away from TechPoint's Mira Awards with two honors: "New Startup of the Year" and "Innovation of the Year."

The firm's $750,000 seed round last November came with contributions by Hyde Park Venture Partners, run by former ExactTarget executive Tim Kopp, and 4G Ventures, run by former Aprimo CEO Bill Godfrey.

The two venture capitalists participated in the newest round via their respective firms, and were joined by a few new individual investors, including Bob Davoli, managing director of Boston-based Sigma Prime Ventures, and Mark Hill, managing partner of Indianapolis-based Collina Ventures.

"We couldn't be happier with where we are and the feedback that we're getting from the market," said Shawn Schwegman, DemandJump co-founder and chief strategy officer.

DemandJump's cloud-based platform pulls marketing spending data from disparate sources, analyzes what works best, and uses artificial intelligence to suggest how marketers should allocate future dollars.

Schwegman said tools exist that show the performance of marketing spending, but they tend to be one-dimensional—only social media, only search engines, etc.—and leave marketers going with their guts on how to react.

"What we consistently hear from customers is, 'You're telling me to do things I didn't even know I should be doing,'" he said.

DemandJump plans to use the money on sales, product development and account management teams. "We're looking for [grade] A players," CEO Christopher Day said about hiring plans, "and so far that's worked out very well."

The company had six employees in January and has 13 today, including Chief Scientist Tyler Foxworthy and senior software architect Brad Wilson.

The company expects employment to hit about 20 within the next few months and is eyeing moving its headquarters downtown, officials said.