Challenge
With the arrival of cloud computing providers like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, the technology industry saw an explosion of cloud-based software as a service companies emerge in the 2010s. The low cost of building apps and a desire of companies to move away from maintaining their own capital intensive infrastructure led to the transformation of many back office software categories that had long been ripe for disruption. Contract management was one of those areas.
Start-up Icertis was founded in 2009 to bring contract management to the cloud. With larger competitors like SAP Ariba, IBM Emptoris, Oracle, Salesforce and others investing in procure-to-pay and lead-to-cash suite-based solutions and struggling to migrate off on-premise business models, Icertis quickly found a niche as a provider of cloud-native, contract management platform.
Having growing quickly from a $15 million Series B funding round to a $115 million Series E round in a little over 3 years, the company needed to expand awareness as it sought to outpace these industry giants. The Series E round vaulted the company valuation past $1 billion making it the latest tech “unicorn.” The company wanted to use its new status to drive attention to solidify its position as a category leader with a blue-chip list of customers and to highlight its incredibly fast growth. It needed help formulating its message, aligning investors and other stakeholders on the story and managing a global media relations effort.
Industry
Technology
Business Software
Services
Communication Strategy
Message Development
Funding Announcement
Media Relations
Key Result
120 pieces of coverage generated globally
Approach
Rob McMurtrie led a team of internal PR managers and external agencies to capitalize on the news. They created a customized outreach effort leveraging key proof points including fundraising to date, Fortune 500 customers, the number of contracts under management and the value of those contracts. They worked to secure alignment with VC partners, developed press materials, and identified key reporters who would help lend credibility to the announcement. Coordinating with Icertis executives, reference customers, and analysts, the team was able to build a compelling storyline of fast growth and future opportunity for the company.
“The firm, which claims that five of the world’s most valuable companies are its clients (one of which is Microsoft), said it would also scale its sales and marketing efforts to reach ‘every leading company in the world’ and expand its partner ecosystem.” – TechCrunch
The company’s large presence in India and the participation of the Premji Invest, headed by former Wipro CEO Azim Premji, as the lead funder provided the opportunity to approach India-based reporters at top business publications. In addition, the team approached start-up and technology trade publications in the US to tell the company story.
Results
Through a coordinated global media outreach effort, the team generated over 120 pieces of coverage around the world, including pieces in Bloomberg, Fortune, Business Insider, Axios, TechCrunch, GeekWire, Crunchbase, and Economic Times, establishing the company as a hot start-up and a leader in cloud-based contract management.
About Icertis
Icertis is the global leader in AI-powered contract intelligence. The Icertis platform revolutionizes contract management, equipping customers with powerful insights and automation to grow revenue, control costs, mitigate risk, and ensure compliance – the pillars of business success. Today, 33% of the Fortune 100 trust Icertis to realize the full intent of millions of commercial agreements in 90+ countries.