33Across raises $9M Series B for social biz

Flybridge Capital Partners leads round for social targeting platform serving Sprint, eBay, others

33Across, a social targeting platform, announced Wednesday that it has closed a $9 million Series B round of funding led by Flybridge Capital Partners with participation from Series A investors First Round Capital and QED Investors. Flybridge Capital's General Partner Jon Karlen will be joining the company’s board.

The New York City startup is just one in a growing legion of companies working to help businesses and brands better connect and interact with consumers in their social graph. 33Across identifies existing customers and brand loyalists and, through their connections, targets other high-potential customers.

Because social targeting is such a broad blanket, 33Across serves clients across many different sectors, like travel, telecommunications, consumer electronics, fashion and more. Hundreds of Fortune 1000 brands and marketers use 33Across, including Sprint, eBay, and Gilt Groupe.

Social targeting, social business design, social CRM--it’s only Wednesday and this is the third funding round this week for a company whose sole purpose is helping other companies be more social. Assistly and Dachis Group also raised funds this week.

Eric Wheeler, CEO and co-founder of 33Across, acknowledged in an interview published today that the social space is thriving (though even that’s probably an understatement):

Social is top of mind for everyone these days given the incredible trajectories of companies like Facebook and Groupon. We speak with lots of clients who think are thinking about social more broadly than maintaining a Facebook page or Twitter account. 33Across offers a unique proposition to leverage similar dynamics that make Facebook and Groupon so popular, but for media programs delivered across the web. Which brand would not want to be able to reach potential customers or brand fans who are socially connected to their core customers?

Wheeler says revenue for 33Across in 2010 was up 15 times from 2009, testament to the fact that businesses are scrambling to take advantage of social media.

What I want to know is whether all these companies will continue to thrive over, not just the next year, but the next five years. Social will obviously play an important role for businesses here on out, but will there always be a wide range of firms to explore or will a few winners eventually dominate the playing field?