Hoopla Software raises $8 million led by Trinity Ventures; moving to larger Malvern-area offices

Tom Paine

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Hoopla Software, which is headquartered in Silicon Valley but has an R&D office in West Chester, announced last week it had raised an $8 million Series B round led by Trinity Ventures. The round also included participation from previous investors Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE), Illuminate Ventures and additional private investors.

Hoopla, founded in 2010 by veteran Philadelphia-area entrepreneur Michael Smalls, provides cloud-based software that uses gamification techniques and insights gained
from data analysis to boost performance for groups such as sales and customer
service teams. The company said it grew over 250 percent in 2013, adding over 150 new customers.

Hoopla's LinkedIn page shows 26 employees, 9 of whom are based in the Philadelphia area. Hoopla hopes to double that headcount by the end of the year, and also plans to release
a mobile version in the Spring.

Salesforce participated in Hoopla's Series A, and Hoopla's website still emphasizes its
product's close integration with Salesforce's CRM platform. California-based Trinity Ventures also invested $6.25 million in Philadelphia-based RJMetrics last year.

Hoopla raised $2.8 million in its Series A round in 2012, led by Safeguard Scientifics.

Prior to founding Hoopla, Small's Philadelphia area experience included executive roles at Destiny Websolutions, TurnTide and ClickEquations.

Update 2/16: Responding to my email inquiry, CEO Michael Smalls tells me that Hoopla
is moving from West Chester to the Malvern area "with expanded space to enable us to continue to add to the engineering team there and add sales resources to give us better east coast coverage. John Galvin, our CTO (and colleague from Destiny and ClickEquations) runs the Philly area office." Smalls says he is now living in San Jose but makes frequent trips back to the area.

Hoopla was also named a finalist for the PACT Enterprise Awards ( to be presented on May 8) in the category of "Technology Startup Company."

Daily Links 1/25/2012: SAP has big plans for HANA, database software, mobile, Newtown Square

SAP Sees Higher Profit on Mobile Software (Bloomberg)

SAP bullish on 2012 after record results (Reuters)

Why is SAP bullish about 2012? (Dennis Howlett/ZDNet Blogs)
Definite read.

Fighting Words from SAP (Wall Street Journal: Tech Europe)
Snabe reiterates highly ambitious goals for Database Management software market. Realistic, or just trying to scare Oracle?

SAP AG: Flush from 2011 financials and hiring hundreds, including about 500 in Newtown Square (Philadelphia Business Journal)

Objections due Feb. 21 on Verizon Wireless, Comcast deal (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Amazon looking into taking on Netflix (New York Post)

Netflix earnings beat expectations, stock jumps more than 10 percent (San Jose Mercury News)

Netflix streaming users now outnumber DVD subscribers 2:1 (Gigaom)

Apple's first fiscal quarter, by the numbers (ZDNet Blogs)

Why Apple's Restrictive iBooks Author Rules May Not Be Legally Enforceable (Read Write Web)
Two Philly area experts weigh in.

Philly Gamification Start-Up Hiring Dozen Employees (FINS)
I recently profiled Hoopla Software here.

SevOne Announces Record Revenues and Growth for 2011 (Marketwire)
These year end press releases by private companies are often short on hard facts (their right), but SevOne does say that revenue grew "almost 70%" in 2011, which would put it at around $15 million based on the $8.9 million it reported for 2010 for the Inc. 500.

TE Connectivity 1st-period net down 1.9% (MarketWatch)
TE Connectivity, formerly Tyco Electronics, has its operational headquarters in Berwyn.

SEI Investments' 4Q profit tumbles 29 pct. (AP via CBS News)

Paying for Public Transit in Philadelphia: as Simple as Tapping a Credit Card or Waving a Smartphone
ACS, A Xerox Company, Helps Philadelphia Install One of the Nation’s First Open Fare Payment Systems for Public Transit
(Business Wire)



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Daily Links 12/22/2011: Safeguard Scientifics makes two investments, including West Chester software firm Hoopla

Workday Is Said to Plan to Raise as Much as $500 Million in a 2012 IPO (Bloomberg)
Workday is considered by many experts to be the most threatening Cloud-based challenger to SAP.


Is there a cloud bubble? (Fortune Technology)

Safeguard Scientifics Adds Crimson Informatics and Hoopla Software as New Technology Partner Companies (Safeguard Press Release)
Hoopla Software is based in West Chester.

Phorum National Cloud Computing Conference to be Held in Philadelphia (PR.com)

Motorola Mobility Acquires Video Guide Startup SetJam (TechCrunch)

Verizon Preps FiOS TV Media Server (Zatz Not Funny!)

What's next for Rue La La, fast-growing 'flash sale' specialist based in Boston? (Boston Globe)



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