The influencer marketing industry is set to be worth $16.4 billion this year, up nearly $3 billion from the market valuation last year. Boston’s own Mavrck, an influencer marketing platform, is no stranger to the lucrative industry. The startup works with 5,000 marketing professionals at over 500 global brands to connect them with influencers to drive sales.
On Wednesday, Mavrck announced its consolidation and purchase of Later, a social media commerce startup. The consolidation is backed by $135 million from Summit Partners, a global equity firm that also invested $120 million in Mavrck just four months ago.
After purchasing Later, Mavrck’s combined consumer reach now tops 7 million users.
Lyle Stevens, Mavrck’s co-founder and CEO, told Built In that Summit Partners introduced Mavrck to Later after leading its previous funding round. Stevens said the fit between the two companies made sense because “Mavrck and Later both stand to benefit from each other’s technologies, including social commerce and creator-based marketing tools to bring efficiency to measurement, monetization and building trust in relationships.”
Following the consolidation, Later will operate as a standalone product alongside working with Mavrck to further scale social media marketing for both brands and creators.
“Together we deliver even stronger social media marketing tools to enterprise consumer brands, small business owners and creators,” Stevens said. “The union helps us really strengthen the reach for both sides of the marketplace and creator economy. Mavrck works with enterprise CPG brands and Later works with creators and small business owners.”
At the moment, Mavrck and Later collectively have over 300 employees. By the end of the year, Stevens expects to hire an additional 100 employees.
