Involver, Inc.

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Involver, Inc. was a provider of social media management software, offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools to help businesses manage their marketing efforts on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It was acquired by Oracle on July 10, 2012.

• {{cite web |url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-10/oracle-buys-involver-to-expand-in-business-social-media-tools |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120713193845/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-07-10/oracle-buys-involver-to-expand-in-business-social-media-tools |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 13, 2012 |title=Oracle Buys Involver to Expand in Social-Media Tools}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/Acquisitions/involver/index.html |title=Oracle and Involver}}

Founded in San Francisco in 2007 by Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton, the company was originally known as RapOuts, Inc. and changed its name to Involver Inc. in August, 2008.{{cite web |url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=47835478 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118191730/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=47835478 |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |title=Involver Inc.: Private Company Information - Businessweek |date=August 14, 2012}} The company offers software and services to publish, manage, moderate and measure customer relations across the social web.

In 2008, Involver powered advertising campaigns on Facebook for several customers{{cite web |url=http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/kiva_launches_facebook_campaign.php |title=Kiva Launches Facebook Campaign Using New Marketing Tool, Involver |date=July 9, 2008 |access-date=August 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802082133/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/kiva_launches_facebook_campaign.php |archive-date=August 2, 2012 |url-status=dead }}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/underwire/2008/04/olympic-torch-1/ |title=Olympic Torch Protesters Go Viral to Rally Support |magazine=Wired |date=April 7, 2008|last1=Wortham |first1=Jenna }}{{cite web |url=http://www.marketingprofs.com/casestudy/102 |title=Case Study: How a Software Company Generated Strong Click-Through Rates on Facebook |date=August 19, 2008}} and its founders were named to Inc. Magazine's top 30 entrepreneurs under 30 list.{{cite web |url=http://www.inc.com/30under30/2008/profile/2930-fzaalhorton.html |title=Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30 - Rahim Fazal and Noah Horton, Involver |publisher = Inc.com |date=Sep 29, 2008}}

Involver was the technology platform that powered the first sponsorship of a Facebook Page{{cite web |url=http://adage.com/article/media/weekly-sells-facebook-fan-page-ad-state-farm/136214/ |title='Us Weekly' Sells Facebook Fan Page Ad to State Farm |date=April 23, 2009}} and the first studio album from a recording artist that was released through a social network.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2009/12/07/alicia-keys-streams-new-album-on-facebook/ |title=Alicia Keys Streams New Album On Facebook |date=December 7, 2009}}

Involver was recommended by Facebook as one of 14 original "Preferred Developer Consultants."{{cite web |url=http://www.insidefacebook.com/2009/12/16/facebook-begins-recommending-app-connect-and-page-service-companies/ |title=Facebook Creates List of "Preferred Developer Consultants"}} Facebook partnered with Involver to build applications for large events like Election Day,{{cite web |url=http://mashable.com/2010/11/01/where-to-vote/ |title=Facebook Helps You Find Your Polling Place|website=Mashable |date=November 2010 }} The World Cup,{{cite web |url=http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/14/facebook-involver-launch-fifa-world-cup-leaderboard/ |title=Facebook, Involver Launch FIFA World Cup Leaderboard}} and the Super Bowl.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/02/03/watch-super-bowl-ads/ |title=Watch 2012 Super Bowl Commercials Now With Facebook + USA Today's Ad Meter|date=3 February 2012 }}

Involver raised venture capital money from Bessemer Venture Partners, Western Technology Investment, and Cervin Ventures.{{cite web |url=https://techcrunch.com/2010/10/14/involver-closes-8-million-series-c-for-its-social-media-marketing-platform/ |title=Involver Closes $8 Million Series C For Its Social Media Marketing Platform|date=14 October 2010 }}

Involver's main competitors in this space were Buddy Media (acquired by Salesforce.com{{cite web |url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57492538-93/salesforce.com-closes-deal-for-buddy-media/ |title=Salesforce.com closes deal for Buddy Media}}), Vitrue (also acquired by Oracle Corporation{{cite web |url=http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Oracle-Buys-Vitrue-to-Add-Cloud-Social-Marketing-to-App-Portfolio-555938/ |title=Oracle Buys Vitrue to Add Cloud Social Marketing to App Portfolio}}), and Wildfire (acquired by Google{{cite web |url=https://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/31/google-snaps-up-wildfire/ |title=Google Snaps Up Wildfire|date=31 July 2012 }}).