Impact Closes 2020 with Growth in Partnership Automation
Impact, the global leader in partnership automation, today announced key benchmarks in the company’s growth, including the addition of 500 new clients in the first three quarters of 2020, establishing a total roster of more than 1,200 globally. New clients added in 2020 include Verizon Media, Starling Bank, John Lewis, Decathlon, Redbubble, G.O.A.T and Wish, and the announcement caps a year of resilience and growth in the face of worldwide challenges and transformation.
In September, the company enhanced the capabilities of the Partnership Cloud platform, which automates the entire partnership lifecycle and drives growth for businesses of all sizes. In response to maturation of and demand for influencer-specific partnerships, the company acquired ACTIVATE, a leading brand and end-to-end influencer platform. This acquisition, along with Impact’s leading technology, created the number one global influencer marketplace available, with more than 300,000 opt-in, qualified, vetted and active influencers.
Drawing upon expertise from a cohort of the most successful partnership growth technologists in the industry, in August Impact released a commissioned guide to provide actionable steps available for anyone to tap into the growing category.
“This year has been transformational on many levels, bringing with it challenges and opportunities for businesses across verticals,” said David A. Yovanno, CEO, Impact. “Through the economic crisis, we have witnessed partnerships serve not only as a channel for business growth, but also as a powerful tool for business resilience. As we look toward 2021, I’m grateful for what we have accomplished and for the work we will continue to do to navigate uncertainty and drive change together – living out the agility and persistence that illustrates true partnerships.”
To lead this growth, Impact made a number of c-suite appointments and expanded their global footprint. A new office in Berlin was established in August with Felix Schmidt as Country Manager to lead the charge into a market with tremendous growth potential. Most recently, Anthony J. Cali joined the company as Chief Financial Officer and Mark Desrosiers joined as Chief Revenue Officer. As a whole, more than 110 new employees were hired this year and the sales team has more than doubled.
In addition to new leadership, new culture initiatives were set forth to reflect the changes seen in our world. In response to the resurgence of social injustice outcry, a global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) team was created to lead the organizational assessment and abolition of systemic bias, and to activate a culture of inclusion, belonging and equal treatment.
To combat the stress and strain of “always-on” remote work, Impact added three new all-company, global holidays and two weeks off around Christmas and New Year so employees can fully unplug together. The company also implemented a structured approach to meeting days, including a goal for meeting-free days when employees can focus on deep work and can think without interruption.
Impact is the global leader in Partnership Automation and catalyst for the new Partnership Economy. Impact accelerates enterprise growth by automating the full partnership lifecycle, including: discovery, recruitment, contracting, engagement, fraud protection, optimization and payment processing for enterprise partnerships. Impact’s Partnership Cloud™ manages over $50B in e-commerce sales and processes over $2B per year in payments to partners. Impact drives revenue growth for global enterprise brands such as Bass Pro Shops, Fanatics, Getty Images, Lenovo, Levi’s, Techstyle and Ticketmaster. Founded in Santa Barbara, CA in 2008, Impact has grown to over 500 employees worldwide.