San Francisco, California-based Extole has obtained funding worth USD 5 million in its latest round. Norwest Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Shasta Ventures and Trident Capital participated in the financing. Extole is a referral marketing platform that gives brands the opportunity to get new high value customers at scale through its simple, turnkey SaaS platform. It has already launched referral marketing programs for over 400 brands, including Spotify, Seamless, Vistaprint, Provide-Commerce, Shutterfly and Advanced Auto Parts. Some of its new customers are Grubhub, Forbes, The Economist, Seamless, American Giant, Manilla and Criquet Shirts.

Extole said their platform will be used as the choice platform for digital marketers and chief marketing officers. This was evidenced by the 85% increase in customer growth in the past year. It currently manages tens of millions of dollars in referrals and promotions and is ready to shape the future of referral marketing technology next year and beyond. Proceeds of the latest round will be utilized for development as Extole is readying itself to launch a new product early next year.

Extole Chief Executive Officer Matt Roche said in a statement, "Marketers shouldn't have to make a choice between acquisition and advocacy. They have the right to reward their own customers for their support, not just write checks to Google."

Extole also said it was adding industry veterans to its executive team. Mark Cyster is the company's Chief Technology Officer and Chris Duskin is the VP of Marketing. They worked together with CEO Roche at Offermatica and brings their expertise in ecommerce and SaaS to their new roles. Roche, Cyster and Duskin formed Offermatica, one of the first successful marketing technology testing firms, before it was purchased by Adobe six years ago.

Redpoint Ventures Partner Chris Moore said, "We are thrilled with the team, their vision, and the trajectory of the company. Together Roche, Cyster, and Duskin are experts in digital marketing and given their prior successes, it was a natural fit to bring that synergy here to drive the company in this rapid growth stage."