PowerReviews powers up with $10M

The social commerce SaaS company gets support from Four Rivers, Woodside, Menlo, and Tenaya

PowerReviews, a social commerce SaaS solutions provider, announced Thursday that it has secured $10 million in a round of financing led by Four Rivers Group, with participation from Woodside Fund and previous investors Menlo Ventures and Tenaya Capital. The latest round brings the company’s total raised to $37 million.

Live on over 5,000 websites in 21 countries, PowerReviews allows businesses to leverage user-generated content to engage their customers. PowerReviews, founded in 2005, uses its proprietary technology to collect, structure, and moderate customer reviews. The company has developed a unique tag-based review structure, which highlights key search word like “Pros,” “Cons,” “Best Uses,” and more, thereby allowing other customers to narrow their searches based on those keywords. For example, someone looking for a coffee maker can narrow his or her search to “easy to use” and “quick brewing” (terms past customers have used) by clicking on two tags in the navigation options.

The technology also goes beyond average rating to include the most-often used terms (pros, cons, best uses) to describe the item via its Review Snapshots, saving customers the hassle of having to read through dozens of reviews to locate the most common problems and perks associated with an item. And Affinity Reviews provide “people like you purchased…” reviews from more specific “affinity groups” to help a consumer make an educated purchase. For example, an avid photographer reading reviews from a general audience on a type of camera may not be getting the information he/she needs to make an informed decision.

Several major brands currently use PowerReviews service on their websites, including Staples, Drugstore.com, Room & Board, ESPN, Neutrogena, Quicksilver, and Jockey. PowerReviews claims that its tag-based review structure is preferred 2-to-1 by consumers over Amazon’s freestyle reviews. The company also powers a consumer-facing review site called Buzzillions.com.

“PowerReviews’ seasoned team, pioneering technology and clear vision make it not only a major force in the social commerce space but also an ideal investment for our fund,” said Vince Occhipinti, Woodside Fund co-founder and managing director, in a statement. “We look forward to working closely with PowerReviews in the coming months and years, using its current offerings and successes as a springboard for future, exponential growth.”

In April, PowerReviews was awarded its second patent related to its SaaS delivery method, which powers the display of user-generated content on brands’ product pages in such a way that it can be easily crawled by search engines. Additionally, PowerReviews was recently named an AlwaysOn OnDemand Top 100 winner, in addition to being recognized on the JMP Securities’ Hot 100 List as Leading Privately-Held Software Company.