LinkedIn to buy Israeli analytics startup Oribi

LinkedIn, the professional networking platform owned by Microsoft, is set to acquire Israeli marketing analytics company Oribi and open a local office in Tel Aviv, the parties announced Monday.

The details of the transaction were not disclosed but CTech by Calcalist reported that the deal was valued at $80 million.

Tel Aviv-based Oribi, founded in 2016, develops web tracking and analytics tools, similar to Google Analytics, that offer insights into user behaviour to inform advertising strategies and marketing campaigns. The company says that although Google Analytics is a powerful tool, it is designed for analytics experts in mind while Oribi provides a simpler platform.

LinkedIn and Oribi said the integration of the Israeli company’s technology into LinkedIn’s marketing solutions platform will help LinkedIn users benefit from enhanced digital campaigns and reach for professional audiences.

LinkedIn’s chief product officer, Tomer Cohen, said in a statement that “with more than 810 million members and 57 million global businesses on LinkedIn, our customers and partners turn to us as the platform to build their brand, engage their professional audiences, and grow their business.”

Cohen said LinkedIn seeks to help its customers, including marketers and recruiters, “gain actionable insights, make smarter decisions and drive business results.

“Oribi’s team brings deep analytics expertise that will help us accelerate our attribution capabilities across our lines of business, and they will represent our first employees in Israel as we open a new office in the region,” said Cohen, adding that the new location adds to LinkedIn’s international presence as it strives to meet the “evolving needs” of global customers and members.

In a separate blog post, Cohen said LinkedIn’s marketing solutions business has grown 43% year-over-year in revenue as the company seeks to invest more in marketing tools.

“Today’s marketers rely on multi-pronged strategies to reach their audiences. Understanding which channels and messages have the greatest impact on the decision to take a desired step, such as a buyer requesting a product demo or a job seeker applying to a job posting, is critical to the effectiveness of any marketing campaign,” he wrote.

Cohen said LinkedIn was excited to open an office in Israel, “a market known for its talent and innovation,” as several members of the Oribi team including its founder and CEO, Iris Shoor, a serial entrepreneur, are set to join LinkedIn’s Tel Aviv operations.

Shoor said the Oribi team was looking “forward to scaling [its] technology to help even more customers reach and convert their professional audiences and optimize their ROI [return on investment].”

Oribi has raised close to $30 million with investors such as TLV Partners and Sequoia Capital.

The company is Shoor’s third startup. She is the co-founder of debugging platform company OverOps, a privately held firm with offices in Tel Aviv and San Francisco, and software design company Visual Tao, acquired in 2013 by US multinational software firm Autodesk.