Success Story:

How Irwin helps Spark Networks manage IR

Spark Networks SE is a leading global dating company with a constantly expanding portfolio of premium & freemium apps. Headquartered in Berlin, Spark Networks’ matchmaking apps have users in all corners of the globe. We spoke to Chris Camarra, VP of Investor Relations to learn how he uses Irwin to conduct investor outreach and manage existing relationships.

Areas of focus

In the past, Chris was using other IR software solutions and databases that he felt were cumbersome and generally inefficient. Finding candidates for outreach was time consuming, and he felt limited in terms of the geographic scope of his databases, which were limited to just a few American cities. Not to mention that contacting them in bulk was impossible, greatly limiting his outreach potential. Additionally, he had to use multiple tools and databases to perform the basic functions of his job.

Chris needed a solution that was viable for every day use. Rather than transferring information between different tools, he needed an all-in-one solution that would:

• Expedite the investor outreach process
• Expand his investor targeting potential
• Catalog relationship notes

Upon recommendation from a trusted colleague, he decided to give Irwin a try.

One central platform that’s easy to use

Since using Irwin, Chris has been able to consolidate his various databases and outreach tools into a single solution. He’s now able to access his outreach databases, IRM, email, and investor targeting functionality all in one tool.

"I think Irwin is much more user friendly than the other tools I’ve used. It's intuitive. And I feel that there's probably a lot more information at my fingertips, but not so much that I'm overwhelmed."

Better Targeting

One of the main reasons Spark Networks uses Irwin is to enhance their investor outreach potential. Spark Networks is a global company, but prior to using Irwin their investor databases were almost exclusively focused on just a few American cities. Chris uses Irwin to identify relevant investors across the world.

"Currently my biggest use for Irwin is prospecting and emailing. I've been doing IR for 15 years, and obviously every company wants to speak with as many investors as possible. Irwin allows me to search globally by investment criteria. In the past I’ve been limited to New York, California, maybe a little bit in Chicago, but now I’m able to search state to state or even country to country. That’s definitely a value add for us."

Bulk Email

With the built-in emailing functionality, it’s easy for Chris to get in front of investors quickly and efficiently. Without ever having to leave the platform, it’s easy for Chris to select a list of recipients and create a crisp and professional mail merge.

"Whenever I have a new press release, it’s easy to share it with both current and potential shareholders. "

Investor CRM

Chris uses Irwin’s IRM to keep track of conversations and share movement with current and prospective shareholders. Not only is he able to keep track of share price movement, he is also able to keep track of all of his conversations with investors.

"Irwin is a really powerful tool for tracking both current and prospective shareholders.It lets me keep track of the buying and selling. I can see who has been added to their position or who has been decreasing over on a month to month basis. I tag and track current and prospective shareholders so that I have context on all the most recent communications I've had with shareholders."

Results

Since consolidating his IR tech stack into Irwin, Chris has been much more efficient with his investor outreach, communications, and tracking.

"I did a pretty substantial amount of outreach around the end of the year. I reached out to hundreds of people, and was able to find several interested parties to have a more in depth conversation. We were able to land new institutional investors. It was something that ordinarily would not have been possible, making 500 phone calls. But within a week I had these great results."

Having access to millions of potential investors throughout the globe is invaluable in and of itself. Combined with the email tool, it will probably be one of the better investments you can make for your IR program."