Founders: Brian Distelburger, Howard Lerman (CEO), Brent Metz
Date launched: 2006
Funding: $115.8 million
Industries disrupted: Media, Social Media
Disrupting: AOL, AT&T (Yellow Pages), Yelp
Competition: Foursquare, Whitepages.com, YouPage
Howard Lerman, co-founder and CEO of Yext
Yext, whose name is meant to invoke "the next Yellow Pages," is a software start-up that manages the online listings of companies from mom-and-pop outfits to Fortune 500 enterprises across a host of Web properties. Co-founder Howard Lerman wants the New York City-based company to be the go-to solution for businesses worldwide, all of which need to manage their location information easily and accurately.
The company sets itself apart from the competition by enabling customers to monitor, update and synchronize at one time their listings on Yext's partner sites—which include Yelp, MapQuest and Foursquare—with its software. Yext charges businesses $499 a year for its service and said demand has been brisk.
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FULL LIST: 2014 CNBC DISRUPTOR 50
Yext has signed up more than 300,000 businesses, including more than a dozen top retailers, and expects to have close to 1 million customers by the end of 2015. At press time, the company raised $50 million in a venture capital round led by Insight Venture Partners that pushed its valuation to $525 million.
On the company's name:
"Before the Internet, Yellow Pages was the definitive source for listings information, so our founders thought of their platform as the 'next Yellow Pages' ... Yext."
