November 5, 2013
Contact: Sarah Seagraves
i2E Vice President for Marketing
(405) 813-2403 or email sseagraves@i2E.org
OKLAHOMA CITY — The i2E Angel Sidecar Fund recently closed a $500,000 investment in Tailwind, leading a $1 million investment round in the Oklahoma City-based company. The funding also included the i2E-managed SeedStep Angels and other angel investors.
Tailwind, formerly PinLeague, is a rapidly growing software company that provides a suite of Web-based analytics and marketing tools that help major brands connect with users on the Pinterest social network. About 3,000 brands and agencies use Tailwind to track information such as brand following on Pinterest and repins.
“We’ve seen incredibly rapid growth throughout 2013,” said Daniel Maloney, Tailwind co-founder and CEO. “This funding provides us the ability to grow our team to continue supporting the larger customer base and providing the same great quality of support that our users are accustomed to receiving.”
The OK Sidecar Fund is one of three Accelerate Oklahoma! investment vehicles created in 2011 by i2E through a partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and the U.S. Treasury State Small Business Credit Initiative. The OK Sidecar Fund invests alongside angel groups and individual investors to increase the value of an investment round in an individual company.
The SeedStep Angels were founded by i2E in 2009 and now have chapters in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and Ardmore. Investments by SeedStep Angels members now total more than $4 million since the group was founded.
About Tailwind: Tailwind (formerly known as PinLeague) currently offers a Pinterest analytics and marketing suite that features tools that help companies extract maximum value from Pinterest. The company is developing additional Software-as-a-Service features to be launched for later 2013 and 2014. The company’s SaaS services are available to both in-house social media teams and agencies. Tailwind was founded by Danny Maloney, former Google and AOL executive, and Alex Topiler, formerly of Bank of America. The company recently completed an acquisition of industry rival PinReach. For more information, visit www.tailwindapp.com.
About i2E, Inc.: With offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa, OK, i2E’s nationally recognized services include business expertise and funding for Oklahoma’s emerging small businesses.
