Austin American-Statesman

Alert Media raises $4.16M to grow

Austin startup offers multichann­el strategy for communicat­ions.

- By Gary Dinges gdinges@statesman.com

Alert Media, an Austin-based tech startup, has raised $4.16 million in funding to continue its growth.

The company, which was founded in 2013, focuses on new and improved ways of delivering mass notificati­ons via phone, text, social media and mobile apps.

Austin-based Silverton Partners led the funding round, which included backing from ATX Ventures and Capital Factory.

“Alert Media has the advantage of offering its customers leading-edge technology, as other mass notificati­on products have become rather stale,” said Morgan Flager, a partner at Silverton who is set to join Alert Media’s board of directors.

“This management team understand­s how mass communicat­ion should work in the multichann­el world of smartphone­s, wearables and geolocatio­n. Nothing else on the market is as user-friendly, interactiv­e or flexible as the Alert Media platform.”

Brian Cruver, Alert Media’s founder and CEO, said the company has already signed deals with a number of wellknown companies, including telecommun­ications, shipping, logistics and oil and gas firms.

“I like to find industries where there’s a need for better products and services,” said Cruver, who has been involved with several other Austin startups in recent years, including Xenex.

“With Alert Media, we’re creating a whole new approach to communicat­ing. Everyone else is focused on onetime, one-way blasts, while we’re more focused on inter-

activity.”

Alert Media has a handful of employees at present, and the new funding will allow the company to grow to several dozen workers, Cruver said. The company will be hiring in sales, developmen­t and marketing, he said.

The company’s offices are off Capital of Texas Highway (Loop 360) in the Westlake area, but Cruver said Alert Media plans to relocate to a larger space elsewhere in Austin to accommodat­e the additional workers.

“Of all the startups I’ve worked with, this one is moving at the fastest pace and has the most potential,” Cruver said. “We’ve got a lot of momentum.”

 ??  ?? Brian Cruver is founder and CEO of Alert Media.
Brian Cruver is founder and CEO of Alert Media.

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