Cymfony Snapped Up by Visible Technologies in Social Analytics

Some consolidation in the field of social media analytics and monitoring today. Boston-based Cymfony is being acquired by Visible Technologies, a Bellevue, WA-based company, for an undisclosed sum. Terms of the deal weren’t given, but communications firm WPP Group, which owns about 24 percent of Visible and all of Cymfony, will own 49 percent of the merged company. Visible’s management and venture investors, which include Centurion Holdings, Ignition Partners, and In-Q-Tel, will retain voting control of the firm, according to a company statement.

Visible Technologies (not to be confused with Boston’s Visible Measures) makes software designed to help companies and individuals monitor social media and manage their online reputations. The merged company will be led by new CEO Richard Pasewark, who is the former president of Cymfony. Visible started in 2003 and has raised more than $50 million in venture funding.

Social media analytics and monitoring, as a sector, has sort of evolved from early companies like Visible, Cymfony, Crimson Hexagon, Lexalytics, Radian6, and Buzzient, to a newer crop of startups like SocMetrics, Bluefin Labs, and Klout. Something to keep our eye on as social technologies continue their remarkable explosion.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.