CrowdRiff raises $9M to grow its visual content marketing platform

Toronto-based CrowdRiff, an artificial intelligence-powered visual content management and marketing platform for travel brands, has closed a $9 million Series A funding round.

The round was led by Leaders Fund, with participation from High Alpha Capital, Gibraltar & Company and BDC Capital.

The company says since 2016, when it raised $2 million in seed funding, it has more than tripled its revenue and grown its customer base to more than 500 travel and tourism brands in 24 countries. Clients include WestJet, Destination British Columbia and the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions. 

This new funding will be used to add more customers around the world and develop new products.

“Visuals are the language of modern-day travelers,” says Dan Holowack, CEO and co-founder of CrowdRiff.

“Around the world, it’s visual content that most heavily influences where people choose to travel and how they spend their money while abroad. We’re thrilled to accelerate our innovation and expansion in the travel sector and further enable travel brands and their agencies to effectively use visuals to attract and engage people throughout the travel buyer journey.”

CrowdRiff says it has processed more than 500 million images to date. The platform combines content discovery, digital asset management and content delivery tools to help marketers source and share user-generated, professional and stock photography.

“In a short period of time, CrowdRiff-sourced content is reaching millions of travelers every month who are at the beginning of their trip discovery process and is resulting in more travel bookings for its customers,” says Gideon Hayden, co-founder and partner at Leaders Fund.

“The team has a relentless focus on customer satisfaction and enabling travel brands to tell their stories in a vastly more compelling way. We are excited to support them on this journey.”