Could Vancouver social media darling Hootsuite soon be going public? That’s the speculation being fuelled by a report by the Wall Street Journal that Fidelity Investments plans to invest $35 million in the local company, developer of the popular social media management platform.
The Journal estimates that would bring Hootsuite’s valuation to about $800 million.
Hootsuite founder and CEO Ryan Holmes tweeted that “the $35m fundraising is a rumour (unconfirmed).”
Nor would Fidelity Investments confirm or deny the investment when contacted by Business in Vancouver.
Fidelity has often invested in companies just prior to those companies going public, although a Fidelity Investments spokesperson told BIV that is not always the case.
If Fidelity does take an equity position in Hootsuite, it would be the second major investment in one year.
In August 2013, Hootsuite raised $165 million in a series B round and has been on a hiring and buying binge ever since.
Fidelity also led a $1.5 billion venture capital round of investment in Uber, according to a recent Fortune Magazine opinion piece, which characterized such investments as a “pre-IPO” move.
Coinciding with the Fidelity Investments speculation, Hootsuite confirmed Thursday (September 4) that it had acquired Brightkit, which has been rebranded Hootsuite Campaigns. Brightkit uses contests, gamification and other digital media promotional tools for online marketing campaigns.
The acquisition is something of a homecoming, as Holmes is a co-founder of Memelabs, the startup that evolved into Brightkit. Both companies were spun out of Invoke Media, which Holmes also co-founded.
