Gremlin Social Acquires Two Companies, VidVerify and Insight CRM, to Expand Social Marketing Product Suite
Gremlin Social has acquired VidVerify and Insight CRM to offer a more comprehensive social media marketing product suite for clients in compliance-heavy industries.
Gremlin Social, a fintech startup in St. Louis, has acquired two companies as part of a strategic expansion: VidVerify, a video-based communication platform for mortgage lenders, and Insight CRM, a SaaS solution for social media management.
Gremlin Social is the only social media marketing solution endorsed by the American Bankers Association for their compliance tools. By integrating VidVerify and Insight CRM into its existing capabilities, Gremlin Social will bolster its product offering for its 260-plus financial services clients who use the platform every day to compliantly distribute social content on behalf of their brands, branches, and employees.
Doug Wilber, a fintech industry veteran, will join the company as Gremlin Social’s new CEO, while Ben April, CEO of VidVerify, will step into the role of chief operating officer (COO). Josh Dennis, founder and CEO of Insight CRM, will join as the company’s first-ever chief technical officer (CTO).
“This is a growth story,” Wilber said. “This is about three industry-leading platforms joining forces to become the best-in-class social media marketing suite for companies in regulated industries. These new partnerships and our new executive team give us the ability to dive more deeply into all sectors within the financial services industry, better serve our customers, and position us well for rapid growth.”
Gremlin Social was founded in St. Louis in 2011. In October 2015, Gremlin was endorsed by the ABA as the recommended platform for social media marketing, monitoring, and compliance for all ABA member banks. VidVerify was founded in St. Louis in 2010, and Insight CRM was founded in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2011.
As part of its overall growth strategy, Gremlin Social will leverage the acquisitions to expand the company’s scheduling, management, monitoring, and compliance tools for companies in all regulated industries and across all social media platforms. It’s also quickly securing its position as a robust sales enablement platform, offering financial institutions the ability to personalize and distribute content that engages with customers in a way that makes the institutions true thought leaders in the community. In the past year, Gremlin Social has increased revenue by 65 percent.
“Through our new partnership, we’ll be able to offer an easier-to-use, more comprehensive product for clients in compliance-heavy industries that might think they can’t use social media effectively,” said April. “Our platform can be a key differentiator for organizations in these industries. We’re excited to explore all the potential opportunities the company has now.”