Social media management platform and coaching service Willow raises €1.5 million

Belgium-based social media management and coaching service Williow has raised €1.5 million in a new funding round. The service is targeted at SMBs and solopreneurs who need to maintain a social presence, but would rather be running their business than their channels. The new funding will be used to further develop the platform’s offerings, and expand international presence. To date, Willow has raised approximately €3 million.

Founded in 2018, Willow offers a unique blend of an AI-driven social media content tool and a coaching service. While the collation of idea inspiration, industry news feeds, and influencer content scraping is pretty mandatory these days, the second part of Willow’s offering, the monthly meeting with a real-live human being is quite unique.

The company also provides users with a metrics tool, aptly dubbed The Social Health Score, that rates social success. The tool reviews consistency, content mix, and employee engagement, all aimed at helping SMBs make smarter decisions about their social presence, and how this helps the bottom line.

Willow reports a customer base of “hundreds and hundreds”, with 70% of its users based in Europe, 30% in the US. The startup has seen particular interest from users in the accounting, HR, and legal professions.

The €1.5 million in new funding is provided by SmartFin, PMV, and imec.istart, with angel investors Alex Brabers and Marc Vanderheyden also participating.

“The Willow solution is completely aligned with the needs and desires of professional service providers and entrepreneurs who understand the importance of social media, but aren’t interested in deploying big budgets, nor have the necessary time or knowhow to do it themselves,” commented SmartFin’s Jürgen Ingels.