Influencer marketing platform company CreatorIQ is acquiring analytics provider Tribe Dynamics in a deal worth around $70 million, sources tell Variety.
For marketers, the deal combines Tribe Dynamics’ analytics and benchmarking solutions — which have focused on beauty and fashion brands — with the ability to make those insights actionable through CreatorIQ’s Creator Intelligence Cloud, according to the companies.
CreatorIQ is paying a combo of cash and stock “in the $70 million range” for Tribe Dynamics, per sources familiar with the pact, making it one of the biggest M&A deals ever in the influencer-marketing category. The deal comes on the heels of CreatorIQ’s announcement that it closed $40 million in new funding, bringing it to about $80 million in capital raised to date.
All Tribal Dynamics employees will remain with the company post-acquisition, including co-founders Conor Begley and Jon Namnath. The deal is expected to close later this fall, after which Tribe Dynamics will continue to operate as an independent entity for the foreseeable future.
CreatorIQ says the two companies combined have more than 450 customers and 250 employees worldwide. So far in 2021, Tribe Dynamics has seen new bookings more than double year-over-year, according to the privately held companies.
“With this union, CreatorIQ is accelerating our focus on advanced data science and analytics,” founder and CEO Igor Vaks said in a statement. “Applying Tribe Dynamics’ proprietary models, which are the standard in the beauty and fashion industries, to additional verticals will allow us to offer analytics and measurement benchmarks for the entire industry.”
Begley, who is president of Tribe Dynamics, called the merger “a profound opportunity to create standards for the entire influencer marketing sector.”
Investors in San Francisco-based Tribe Dynamics included Switzerland’s Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, Lighter Capital, and You & Mr Jones Brandtech Ventures.
Cooley LLC represented CreatorIQ as legal counsel in the transaction, while Perkins Coie LLC served as counsel for Tribe Dynamics. Truist Securities served as the investment bank for Tribe Dynamics in the deal.