Marketwire acquires Sysomos

MaRS client delivers industry – defining technology for social media analytics

Toronto, July 8, 2010 — MaRS, a Toronto-based not-for-profit innovation centre, is proud to announce Marketwire has acquired Toronto-based Sysomos. The Sysomos platform brings business intelligence to social media by providing the ability to contextually analyze conversations across a variety of media channels. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Sysomos investors include the Investment Accelerator Fund (a seed fund that assists emerging Ontario technology companies, funded by the Province of Ontario) and the GrowthWorks Commercialization Fund.

The Sysomos technology is an advanced social media monitoring and analytics platform, collecting and processing more than a billion new online conversations a month. This industry-leading platform allows major brands to quickly discover the tone of social media conversations and provides the ability to see what’s happening, why it’s happening, and who’s driving the conversations.

Sysomos began as an advanced research project for content aggregation and analysis started by University of Toronto Computer Science faculty member Nick Koudas and graduate student Nilesh Bansal in 2005. The company became a MaRS client in 2006. Since then MaRS advisors and mentors have provided a range of advisory services to help with business development. They also made several introductions to key resources such as Scott Vanderwel, Head of Monitor Canada’s Toronto office and volunteer advisor at MaRS, who later joined the Sysomos board.

“We’re grateful for the work that MaRS did over the years to help us move the company forward,” said Koudas, Founder and CEO of Sysomos. “We are also grateful for the counsel and high degree of engagement Scott demonstrated as a member of our board.”

Sysomos, now profitable with 25 employees, has added an impressive set of organizations to its client list, which includes boutique and international agencies, mid-sized companies, and some of the world’s biggest brands such as Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, Disney and Shell.

“The progress Sysomos has made in terms of refining its product and establishing a strong position in a highly competitive market since we first met Nick’s team is impressive,” said Dr. Ilse Treurnicht, CEO of MaRS.  “This is a terrific example of a great technology transitioning from lab to market, and in this partnership with Marketwire, scaling internationally – with high value job creation in Ontario.”

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District (www.marsdd.com) is a large scale, mission driven innovation centre located in Toronto and networked across Ontario, focused on building Canada’s next generation of technology companies.  MaRS works closely with entrepreneurs to grow and scale their ventures into global market leaders in life sciences and health care, information, communications and digital media technologies, cleantech, advanced materials and engineering, as well as innovative social purpose business.

About Sysomos
Based in Toronto Canada, Sysomos (www.sysomos.com) is redefining social media analytics by providing corporations, marketers, public relations agencies and advertisers with the intelligence and insight needed to make smarter business and strategic decisions. The Sysomos platform provides instant and unlimited access to all social media conversations to see what’s happening, why it’s happening, and who’s driving the conversations.

Contact Info

Linda Quattrin
Director, Communications
416.673.8104
lquattrin@marsdd.com