Zeta Global Raises $140 Million in New Funding from GPI Capital and Blackstone's GSO Capital Partners

NEW YORK, April 27, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zeta Global, the data-driven marketing technology innovator whose SaaS-based marketing cloud helps leading brands acquire, retain and grow customer relationships, announced today that it has secured $140 million ($115 million in equity capital and $25 million in debt financing) in its Series F financing round from GPI Capital (Global Partnership Investing) and funds sponsored by Franklin Square Capital Partners and sub-advised by GSO Capital Partners LP (GSO), the credit division of Blackstone (NYSE: BX). The latest round of funding marks the biggest raise in the Company's history. Since its inception, Zeta has raised more than $250 million in capital. 

This late stage financing solidifies Zeta's status as one of the most promising marketing technology companies and comes in the wake of a record 2016 and a strong start to 2017. The Company grew more than 50% in 2016, building on its track record of success for using data-driven marketing technologies and tools to enable brands to break through and connect with their customers and improve marketing ROI in today's hyper-converged marketing technology ecosystem.

"This is a watershed moment for Zeta Global. We are thrilled to start our new relationship with GPI Capital and are proud of our continued support from our partners at GSO and Blackstone," said David A. Steinberg, Zeta Global's CEO and Co-Founder. "We are hitting every milestone in our evolution and will continue to capitalize on acquisitions that will enhance and extend our marketing cloud so that we can deliver even more to our blue-chip client base."

"We are very bullish on the shift towards data-driven digital marketing," said Bill Royan, the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of GPI Capital, who will join Zeta's Board of Directors at the close of the deal. "We believe that Zeta's assets and capabilities make the Company uniquely positioned to capitalize on this shift. We're delighted to become involved with the company at this stage of its trajectory."

This funding comes at a pivotal point in Zeta Global's development, as the new financing will help fuel Zeta's growth through strategic acquisitions and investments in technology, operations and sales & marketing.

"It's amazing to look back at where David and I first started when Zeta was created almost 10 years ago – "big data" wasn't even a term," said John Sculley, Zeta Global's Co-Founder and former CEO of Apple Computer and Pepsi-Cola. "Today, Zeta Global is an outstanding and well-regarded technology platform, with a blue-chip client base and solid leadership team with the right DNA to continue our mission in providing the world's leading brands the solutions they need to succeed in this rapidly changing, digitally-driven marketing ecosystem."

Since the start of 2017, Zeta has made noteworthy moves in bolstering its technology platform and its leadership team. In March, the Company named Donald Steele, former Managing Director of North American Sales at Epsilon, as its first Chief Revenue Officer. In late 2016, Zeta appointed Jarrod Yahes, former Chief Financial Officer of Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc. and Senior Vice President and Controller for ExlService Holdings, Inc., as the company's new Chief Financial Officer.

The Company's award winning ZetaHub platform has also made major strides in the past 18 months garnering the attention of leading analysts and Fortune 500 clients. ZetaHub was recently recognized as a Visionary in the Gartner Magic Quadrant Report for Digital Marketing Hubs for the first time and rated number one in The Relevancy Group's Relevancy Ring and Red Pill Email reports for enterprise email platforms. 

Credit Suisse served as exclusive placement agent and financial advisor to Zeta Global.

About Zeta Global:
Zeta is a data-driven marketing technology innovator whose SaaS-based marketing cloud helps 500+ Fortune 1000 and Middle Market brands acquire, retain and grow customer relationships through actionable data, advanced analytics and machine learning. Founded by David A. Steinberg and John Sculley (former CEO of Apple and Pepsi-Cola) in 2007, the Company's highly-rated ZetaHub technology platform has been recognized in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Digital Marketing Hubs (February 2017) and in its Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Campaign Management (April 2017) competing with offerings from Oracle, IBM, Salesforce and Adobe. Operating on four continents with over 1,200 employees, the company is headquartered in New York City, with Centers of Excellence in Silicon Valley, Boston, London, and Hyderabad, India. 

About GPI Capital:
GPI Capital is an independent asset management firm focused on making large scale, long-term strategic investments across a broad range of industries globally. GPI specializes in significant minority, non-controlling stakes made to finance transformational initiatives in both privately-held late-stage firms and in publicly-traded companies. The GPI team is based in New York and London, and has extensive experience in this type of investment across the Americas, Asia and Europe, in sectors including financial services, technology/telecom, consumer and industrials. For more information about GPI Capital, please visit www.gpicap.com.

SOURCE Zeta Global