NewsCred

NewsCred, Inc. is a content marketing software company. Founded in 2008, NewsCred provides content publishing, brand awareness, and other marketing services to brands.

NewsCred clients include enterprise B2C and B2B brands seeking content marketing solutions. Clients also include publishers.^[1]

History

Founded in 2008 by Shafqat Islam, Iraj Islam and Asif Rahman, NewsCred has offices in Dhaka, London and New York with sales offices in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, and San Francisco.^[2] CEO Shafqat Islam was recognized on Ad Age's "40 Under 40" list in 2015.^[3]

Prior to founding NewsCred, Shafqat Islam worked for Merrill Lynch as an information technology project leader for six years. ^[4]

NewsCred initially launched as a consumer-facing news site.^[1] The company then shifted to a full-fledged content marketing platform, with brands such as Pepsi, P&G, Dell, General Electric, and AIG using NewsCred as their content solution.

In 2014, NewsCred raised $25 million in its Series C led by InterWest Partners with participation from Mayfield Fund, FirstMark Capital, and IA Ventures.^[5]

In 2015, NewsCred raised another $42 million, bringing its total funding to $88.8 million, according to VentureBeat.^[6]

The company is backed by investors including FTV Capital, FirstMark Capital, Mayfield Fund, Greycroft Partners, IA Ventures, Floodgate Fund, Lerer Ventures, AOL Ventures, Advancit Capital and Naval Ravikant.^[2][7]

Products

NewsCred has three product offerings: software, content, and services.

Common use cases for product offerings include:

• Content Creation and Sourcing
• Global Collaboration and Workflow
• Global Asset Management
• Brand Governance
• Streamlined Publishing
• Social Publishing
• Social Listening and Engagement
• Content Marketing Measurement
• Audience Insights
• Strategy and Services
• Implementation and Onboarding
• Security

Software

Software is NewsCred’s core product, enabling brands to manage content creation, distribution, and measurement across channels, teams, and global markets on a single platform. The four pillars of NewsCred's content strategy are plan, create, publish, and measure.

• Plan - Cross-channel management ensures that all communications are planned, scheduled, and deployed at optimal moments. Planning solutions include marketing calendar & task management, global collaboration & workflow, global asset management, brand governance & security.
• Create - NewsCred offers licensed, original, and user-generated content allowing brands to create content at scale. Content creation solutions include licensed content from over 5,000 publishers, long-form content & image editing tools, freelancer marketplace, and content pitching & idea management.
• Publish - Through online publishing, social networks, and paid distribution, NewsCred helps brands reach their audiences and share content on a local and global basis. Publishing solutions include social & web publishing, social listening & engagement, paid social & native advertising, and integrations & data consolidation.
• Measure - Audience Insights allows brands to see a real-time stream of those engaging with their content, helping marketers to better understand their audience and prove content marketing ROI. Measurement solutions include content & social analytics, audience insights & targeting, influencer & competitor tracking, and customer reporting.

Content

NewsCred provides three content offerings, providing custom content from a network of creators, licensed content from 5,000+ sources, and user-generated content.

• Original Content - NewsCred's network of over 500 journalists, photographers, videographers, and designers help create original content for various brands. All of the writers and freelancers are vetted, and NewsCred's in-house editorial team oversees the content creation process from start to finish.
• Licensed Content - NewsCred provides licensed third-party content from over 5,000 publishers, giving brands the ability to publish full-text articles, images, and videos. Brands have access to over 160,000 topics with millions of articles per day. Unlike curated content, all content is fully legal with no worry about copyright infringement.
• User-Generated Content - Access social media influencers through NewsCred's partnerships, integrate social feeds, and leverage NewsCred's social listening tools to host Twitter chats and curate conversations.

Services

NewsCred's services include strategy, editorial, and design support. They also provide content strategy resources, editorial curation, and design consultation.

• Strategy - NewsCred's strategy services are led by Michael Brenner. Prior to joining NewsCred, Michael ran Global Marketing Strategy at SAP. He is recognized as a Forbes Top 40 Social Media Marketer, a Top Content Marketing Influencer and Most Mentioned Marketer on Twitter. He's the author of the B2B Marketing Insider blog. NewsCred's team of strategist help brands build and hone their content strategy, and strategy sessions run from day-long, in-person workshops to ongoing program management and consultation.
• Content Curation - NewsCred's team of in-house editors curate articles and images, lead custom content brainstorms, and assist with story development and writer selection for brands.

Partners

NewsCred works with a number of media companies and market leaders to provide services from paid distribution to data mining.

NewsRoom Partners

• Getty Images
• Visual.ly
• Big Frame
• Wochit
• Movable Media
• AFP
• Group SJR
• StudioD
• King Content

Ecosystem Partners

• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Facebook
• Pinterest
• Marketo
• WordPress
• DataSift
• Spredfast
• Sharethrough
• The Canadian Press
• ADLP
• Idio
• Nativo
• Outbrain
• OneSpot

Awards & Honors

2015

Fortune's 100 Best Workplaces for Millennials 2015^[8]

Fortune's 10 Great Workplaces in Advertising and Marketing^[9]

TechCrunch's TC Cribs, featuring "NewsCred's On Brand Office"^[10]

CEO and Co-Founder Shafqat Islam on Ad Age's "40 Under 40" list^[11]

VP of Marketing Alicianne Rand among the "2015 Marketing Hall of Femme" honorees.^[12]

AlwaysOn Top 2015 Global 250 Private Companies ^[13]

2014

The New York Times feature, "Shafqat Islam, Chief of NewsCred, on Irrational Optimism"^[14]

Crain's New York Business 2014 Best Places to Work in NYC^[15]

Digiday Best Content Marketing Tech Platform ^[16]

Business Insider feature, "This Startup Treats New Hires To A Ride In A Private Car On Their First Day of Work."^[17]

CEO and Co-Founder Shafqat Islam discusses online publishing on Bloomberg Television's "Money Moves"^[18]

External links

• NewsCred, Inc.
• NewsCred on Twitter
• NewsCred on Facebook
• NewsCred on LinkedIn
• NewsCred on Instagram
• NewsCred on TechCrunch's "TC Cribs" featuring "NewsCred's On Brand Office"

References

1. Empson, Rip. "Third Time’s The Charm? A New NewsCred Raises $4 Million To Reinvent The Newswire Service". TechCrunch.
2. Elaine Pofeldt (19 March 2013). "NewsCred Raises $15 Million. Can It Save Old Media?". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
3. Sebastian, Michael. "Meet Ad Age's 2015 40 Under 40". adage.com. Advertising Age. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
4. Max Nisen (25 February 2013). "NewsCred CEO: The World Will Let You Know When Your Product Is Right". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 May 2013.
5. Alden, William (23 January 2014). "NewsCred, a Content Marketing Start-Up, Raises $25 Million". nytimes.com (The New York Times). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
6. Levine, Barry. "NewsCred nabs $42M to expand beyond content marketing". VentureBeat.com. VentureBeat. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
7. Cheredar, Tom. "Newswire startup NewsCred picks up $15M and partners with NYT". VentureBeat.
8. "100 Best Workplaces for Millennials". fortune.com. Fortune. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
9. Tkaczyk, Christopher. "10 Great Workplaces in Advertising and Marketing". fortune.com. Fortune. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
10. Taylor, Colleen. "NewsCred's On Brand Office". techcrunch.com. TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
11. "Meet Ad Age's 2015 40 Under 40". adage.com. Ad Age. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
12. Conlon, Ginger. "Meet the 18 Female Chief Marketers Who Put the 'Exel' in Excellent". dmnews.com. Direct Marketing News. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
13. "Announcing the Top 2015 Global 250 Private Companies". aonetwork.com. AlwaysOn. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
14. Bryant, Adam (13 February 2014). "Shafqat Islam, Chief of NewsCred, on Irrational Optimism". nytimes.com (The New York Times). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
15. "Best Places to Work 2014". crainsnewyork.com. Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
16. Wallace, Caitlin. "GE Takes Home Best in Show at Digiday Content Marketing Awards". digiday.com. Digiday. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
17. Stone, Madeline. "This Startup Treats New Hires To A Ride In A Private Car On Their First Day Of Work". businessinsider.com. Business Insider. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
18. Bolton, Deirdre. "Evolution in the Online Publishing Industry". bloomberg.com (Bloomberg Television). Retrieved 24 August 2015.