Nov 2, 2017

The trend of consolidation in the marketing technology sector continues: Quincy, MA-based UpCurve announced this morning it has acquired Closely, the Denver-based startup behind the social marketing mobile app, Perch. Terms weren’t disclosed. Eight-year-old Closely , led by MapQuest co-founder Perry Evans, previously raised at least $3.6 million from investors, according to SEC filings . UpCurve , formerly known as Propel Business Services , said the deal will augment its ThriveHive digital marketing products and services. Last year, UpCurve’s Propel Marketing business bought ThriveHive —a Boston-area marketing tech startup founded in 2011 by MIT alums Max Faingezicht and Adam Blake—for $11.8 million in cash. UpCurve parent company New Media Investment Group (NYSE: NEWM ) rebranded the Propel Marketing division as ThriveHive this year. The idea behind ThriveHive (the startup) was to use data science and analytics software to help small business owners manage a bewildering array of online marketing options—e-mail, social media, search ads, digital promotions, and so forth. Now, UpCurve will combine the capabilities of ThriveHive’s “guided marketing platform” with Closely’s “guided social media management software” for small businesses. As Xconomy previously reported , the company’s Perch app enables businesses to track what people are saying about them online—and what their competitors are saying and doing. Perch has aggregated the social data of over 500,000 business locations from six online platforms, including Yelp, Instagram, and Facebook, according to a press release. Closely has several other marketing tech products in the works, the release said. Closely’s team of seven people will join ThriveHive, and its Denver office will become one of ThriveHive’s product and engineering hubs, according to a spokeswoman. Closely’s Evans—who previously co-founded MapQuest, Jabber, and Local Matters—will become ThriveHive’s senior vice president of product strategy and corporate development. Jeff Engel is a senior editor at Xconomy. Email: jengel@xconomy.com Follow @JeffEngelXcon