Sprout Social
A software company operating a social media management, analytics, engagement, and advocacy platform for organizations.
Last updated August 21, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
Sprout Social, Inc. is a Chicago-based software company whose principal product is a social media management platform for businesses and other organizations. The platform is designed to bring publishing, engagement, customer-care workflows, reporting, listening, and collaboration into a common environment rather than requiring teams to manage each social network independently. Its users can use the service to plan and distribute content, monitor conversations, respond to messages, coordinate work among multiple users, and assess social performance through analytics. The company was founded in April 2010 by Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gil Lara, and Peter Soung. Its early development was supported by venture financing, including a 2010 investment led by Lightbank, a subsequent investment from New Enterprise Associates in 2011, and a later financing involving Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and New Enterprise Associates. These investments supported the development and expansion of a cloud-based product aimed at the growing market for professional social media management. A significant early product step came in November 2011, when Sprout released S2, described as the second generation of its platform. The release added capabilities including support for multiple users and iPhone functionality, reflecting the company's focus on organizational workflows rather than solely individual social posting. Sprout subsequently expanded its relationships with major social networks. It became an official Facebook marketing partner in July 2012 and an official Twitter marketing partner in November 2012. In May 2013, it began permitting application programming interface integration with Google+, and in 2015 it established partnerships involving LinkedIn and Instagram. Sprout extended its product scope beyond core publishing and monitoring in the middle of the 2010s. In August 2015, it introduced Bambu by Sprout Social, an employee-advocacy product that allowed organizations to curate content for distribution by employees. In March 2016, it launched Landscape by Sprout Social, a free image-resizing tool intended to help users prepare visual assets for different social-network formats. The company has also developed integrations with business and marketing software, including Zendesk, UserVoice, Salesforce, Tableau, Canva, and TikTok, helping position the platform as part of a broader customer-experience and marketing technology stack. Sprout Social became a publicly traded company on Nasdaq in 2019 under the ticker SPT. Its public-company identity complements a business model centered on recurring software access and enterprise-oriented functionality, although the available reference material does not provide sufficient current financial or operating metrics for a detailed assessment. The brand's positioning is built around centralized social operations, measurable performance, team collaboration, and the use of social channels for both marketing and customer service. Its core audience includes organizations that need structured governance and reporting across multiple social accounts and networks.
History
Sprout Social was established in Chicago in April 2010 by Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gil Lara, and Peter Soung. The company entered the market as organizations were adopting social networks not only for brand promotion but also for customer communication, publishing, and measurement. Its product strategy centered on giving teams a shared interface for managing social activity across multiple accounts and networks. The company obtained early venture financing. The reference record identifies a $1 million investment led by Lightbank in 2010, a $10 million investment from New Enterprise Associates in February 2011, and a later $42 million financing involving Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and New Enterprise Associates. By early 2011, the company had reportedly raised $60 million in total. These figures are historical financing information and should not be treated as current revenue, valuation, or market-capitalization data. In November 2011, Sprout released S2, the second generation of its platform. The release expanded the product's collaborative character through multiple-user support and added iPhone functionality. Sprout then strengthened its connections with major social networks. It became an official Facebook marketing partner in July 2012 and an official Twitter marketing partner in November of the same year. In May 2013, the company began permitting API integration with Google+. Product and ecosystem development continued in 2015. Sprout partnered with LinkedIn and Instagram and introduced Bambu by Sprout Social in August. Bambu was designed for employee advocacy, enabling organizations to curate social content for employees to distribute through their own networks. In March 2016, Sprout launched Landscape, a free image-resizing utility that helped users adapt visual material to the differing dimensions used by social networks. The platform later became associated with integrations across marketing, customer-service, analytics, design, and social-video ecosystems. The reference material identifies Zendesk, UserVoice, Salesforce, Tableau, Canva, and TikTok among the services that can integrate with Sprout Social. These connections reflect the company's broader role as an operational layer between social networks and other enterprise systems. Sprout Social completed its transition to public-company status in 2019 with a Nasdaq listing under the ticker SPT. Its business remains focused on software for social media management and related organizational workflows. The available reference material does not establish a complete current executive roster, ownership structure, financial profile, or detailed post-listing product chronology; those areas require additional current company and regulatory sources.
- 2019
Nasdaq listing
[1]Sprout Social became publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker SPT.
- 2016
Landscape launched
[1]Sprout launched Landscape, a free image-resizing tool for social-network content.
- 2015
Bambu introduced
[1]The company launched Bambu by Sprout Social, an employee-advocacy platform.
- 2013
Google+ API integration
[1]Sprout began enabling API integration with Google+.
- 2012
Facebook and Twitter marketing partnerships
[1]Sprout Social became an official marketing partner of Facebook and Twitter.
- 2011
Early venture financing and S2 release
[1]The company raised substantial early venture financing and released S2, the second generation of its platform, with multi-user and iPhone functionality.
- 2010
Company founded in Chicago
[1]Sprout Social was founded in April by Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gil Lara, and Peter Soung.
Products and positioning
An enterprise-oriented social media management platform emphasizing centralized publishing, analytics, engagement, customer care, integrations, and collaboration across social networks.
Social media management software · 2010
Sprout Social Platform
The core platform combines social publishing, scheduling, engagement, monitoring, analytics, and team collaboration. It is intended for organizations managing multiple social profiles and workflows, with integrations that connect social operations to customer-service, sales, analytics, design, and other business systems.
Employee advocacy software · 2015
Bambu by Sprout Social
Introduced in 2015, Bambu was designed to help organizations curate approved or selected social content for employees to share. It extended Sprout Social's focus from corporate account management into employee-led distribution and advocacy.
Social content preparation tool · 2016
Landscape by Sprout Social
Landscape launched in 2016 as a free utility for resizing images to fit the differing visual requirements of social networks. The tool supported the content-production side of social publishing rather than functioning as the company's central management platform.
Brand decisions
2019
Transition to public-company statusStrategyBackground
After years of private growth and product expansion, Sprout Social pursued access to public capital markets.
Action taken
The company listed on Nasdaq under the ticker SPT.
Aftermath
Sprout Social became a publicly traded social-media software company.
2015
Launch of Bambu by Sprout SocialProduct launchBackground
Organizations were using employees as an additional channel for distributing branded and curated social content.
Action taken
Sprout launched Bambu as an employee-advocacy platform.
Aftermath
The offering broadened Sprout Social's product scope beyond direct management of corporate social accounts.
2011
Release of S2 platform generationGeneration changeBackground
Sprout Social was expanding its software for organizational social-media use and needed capabilities beyond single-user account management.
Action taken
The company released S2 with support for multiple users and iPhone functionality.
Aftermath
The release reinforced the platform's collaborative and mobile-management direction.
Recent events
Sprout Social prices IPO at $17 per share[3]
Reported:
Sprout Social priced its IPO at $17 per share, sold 8.8 million shares and raised just under $150 million.
Sources3 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/sprout-social · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled