• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire

1

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year

2

Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic

3

Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire

Ceros raises $6.2 million to take on Adobe’s creative cloud

By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Erin Griffith
Erin Griffith
Down Arrow Button Icon
April 3, 2014, 5:00 PM ET
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

FORTUNE — Simon Berg has issues with the current landscape of digital marketing tools, and he’s built a product to address them called Ceros. Now, with 60 clients, including Elizabeth Arden, Virgin Atlantic, and Peugeot, Ceros has raised $6.4 million in new funding from Sigma Prime, Starvest Partners, and Greycroft Partners to execute on Berg’s mission.

Based in London and New York, Ceros offers an SaaS platform for brands and marketers to develop “beautiful interactive content experiences.” The company is the result of a 2012 deal in which Crowd Fusion, a startup, had raised $3 million from Greycroft Partners, Fuse Capital, and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, bought Ceros and adopted its name and product.

The term “content experiences” is purposely vague, but includes micro-sites, rich media on websites, interactive infographics, and other forms of content marketing. The selling point is that brands can build interactive marketing materials for the web, tablet, and mobile, without requiring a developer to write code. This saves the brands time and money, since their in-house designers can handle the heavy lifting. “It’s essentially a modern take on the design and creation process,” Berg says. Before adopting Ceros, the company’s customers were building these types of experiences on traditional software like Adobe Photoshop and InDesign, he says, and requiring expensive development work to get them onto the Web.

MORE: Mightybell: a ‘smarter’ social network for groups and businesses

Berg believes his product can compete with offerings from larger, more entrenched industry stalwarts like Adobe, in part, because Adobe’s core business — creative suite software — is not cloud-based, even if its new Creative Cloud business is. Of Adobe’s $4 billion in revenue, only 26% of it came from the Marketing Cloud in 2013.

“We were born in the cloud,” Berg says. “[Adobe’s] business model is not aligned with the way that the market is moving.”

Still, Adobe (ADBE) is moving quickly to transition its business into cloud-based software. In the fourth quarter of 2013, revenue from the marketing cloud grew 38% over the prior year. Berg also recognizes he has a very long way to go in taking on Goliath. “As it stands, we’re not a threat to Adobe today,” he says. “But when Salesforce launched, they were a joke in comparison to Siebel Systems, but now they’re a giant among giants.” Right now, he adds, “It’s like a fly attacking a hippo.”

Ceros is riding a content marketing wave, as brands and marketers increasingly shift their dollars from paid advertisements to “owned media,” or self-published content, and “earned media,” or PR and social sharing.

Venture dollars have followed the shift in brand dollars: This year alone, four startups chasing the content marketing game have raised large rounds of funding: Contently raised $9 million in January. Then Sharethrough raised $17 million, and NewsCred announced a $25 million round in the same week. And last month Percolate raised $24 million.

By 2017, chief marketing officers are expected to spend more on technology software and services than a company’s Chief Information Officer — a.k.a., the one actually in charge of the tech. Ceros’s tools compete more with Adobe than with the offerings from Percolate and its peers, but they’re all angling for a slice of the same, growing budget.

About the Author
By Erin Griffith
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in

Qualcomm’s big AI gamble: Breaking Nvidia’s chips stronghold 
AIChips
Qualcomm’s big AI gamble: Breaking Nvidia’s chips stronghold 
By Phil WahbaJune 27, 2026
1 hour ago
U.S. aircraft attack Iran in response to drone strike on cargo ship that Tehran called ‘ceasefire management’ as both sides wrestle for Hormuz control
PoliticsIran
U.S. aircraft attack Iran in response to drone strike on cargo ship that Tehran called ‘ceasefire management’ as both sides wrestle for Hormuz control
By Collin Binkley, Jon Gambrell and The Associated PressJune 26, 2026
10 hours ago
Red Lobster lost millions on its endless shrimp disaster. Shareholders say it was a ‘car crash’ designed to squeeze profits
LawRestaurants
Red Lobster lost millions on its endless shrimp disaster. Shareholders say it was a ‘car crash’ designed to squeeze profits
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 26, 2026
12 hours ago
Best Beef Organ Supplements (2026): Expert Tested and Reviewed
HealthDietary Supplements
Best Beef Organ Supplements (2026): Expert Tested and Reviewed
By Emily PharesJune 26, 2026
12 hours ago
Sam Altman and Donald Trump.
AIOpenAI
OpenAI agrees to stagger rollout of its most powerful model to only Trump-approved customers
By Eva Roytburg and Beatrice NolanJune 26, 2026
13 hours ago
gr
PoliticsElections
Anthropic and OpenAI waged a $27 million proxy war in a Manhattan congressional race. The winner told them both to get lost
By Sasha RogelbergJune 26, 2026
13 hours ago

Most Popular

MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
Success
MacKenzie Scott alone accounted for one-third of America's $19.2 billion in megagifts last year
By Sydney LakeJune 25, 2026
2 days ago
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
Success
Now worth $200 million, Sarah Jessica Parker credits being ‘one of eight kids that struggled financially’ for her hunger, ambition, and work ethic
By Orianna Rosa RoyleJune 24, 2026
3 days ago
Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire
Economy
Ray Dalio says the U.S. just had its 'Suez moment'—and history says what comes next could end an empire
By Nick LichtenbergJune 26, 2026
1 day ago
The bond market knows something about the $39 trillion national debt that Washington doesn’t
Economy
The bond market knows something about the $39 trillion national debt that Washington doesn’t
By Eva RoytburgJune 25, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 26, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 26, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 26, 2026
19 hours ago
The richest 20% are the only ones powering the U.S. economy, says top economist, but their prospects are entirely reliant on teetering stock prices
Economy
The richest 20% are the only ones powering the U.S. economy, says top economist, but their prospects are entirely reliant on teetering stock prices
By Eleanor PringleJune 26, 2026
21 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.