Australia's Starfish in $17.5m China push for US marketing company

Other participants include early and growth-stage technology investor Safeguard Scientifics, which will initially deploy up to $8.2 million, according to a statement. The capital will be used primarily for product development and the opening of new offices in China and Europe.

"The Aktana team was ahead of their time five years ago as they sought to understand the benefit of analytics for non-technical personnel," said Tony Glenning, investment director at Starfish. "By learning as much about their target audience as the technology, they've developed an empathy for the user and their market that ultimately drives success as much as the solution does."

Aktana focuses its sales support technology exclusively on the life sciences market, with clients including pharmaceutical and medical devices companies. It aims to drive financial efficiencies in this space through customized customer relations management systems including data-driven decision making services and multi-channel marketing initiatives. It is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains offices in Tokyo, New York and San Diego.

Starfish first invested in the company in 2011. The firm typically makes investments of $1-5 million in the first round with a goal of participating in all future funding rounds. Focus sectors include life sciences, IT and cleantech.

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• Topics
• Healthcare
• Technology
• Greater China
• Australasia
• Venture
• Early-stage
• China
• USA
• Starfish Ventures
• Australia