WeddingWire deal another sign of growth equity influx

WeddingWire is the latest D.C. tech company to take a big lump of growth equity cash from an outside investor.

This quarter has been huge for the growth category, a phenomenon mostly driven by out-of-market private equity firms finding funding targets in this region.

WeddingWire’s $25 million financing from Boston-based Spectrum Equity follows a $136 million investment in Vienna-based Alarm.com from Technology Crossover Ventures and a $50 million investment in Columbia-based Tenable Network Security Inc. by Accel Partners. In July, Silver Spring-based Sonatype Inc. said it had pulled in $25 million in a round led by New Enterprise Associates.

In each of the above deals, a funder injected tens of millions of dollars into a well-established tech brand, with the intention of hitting the gas pedal on product development and marketing.

The WeddingWire funding is another sign that D.C. has many more growth-ready tech companies than once thought.

D.C.-based Revolution Growth, for example, has so far done all of its deals in this region. When I spoke with Revolution Growth Partner Ted Leonsis in May, he mentioned that “the ground isn’t as tilled here” compared to Silicon Valley – a reference to the investor-friendly valuations to be found here. That’s probably still true, but more tractors showing are up every day.

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up