糖心视频

Indianapolis-based , a SaaS platform for finding and managing on-demand digital marketing talent, has raised $3 million in a strategic round of funding.

was the largest investor in the round, according to Torchlite Founder and CEO . The financing also included participation from existing investors such as Executive Chairman , an executive in residence at Indianapolis-based venture firm .

Torchlite has raised $5.5 million since its inception in 2015, Marshall said. 鈥� also based in Indianapolis 鈥� invested $500,000 in an earlier round.

Torchlite joins other Indianapolis-based startups who have raised money as of late. Last month we reported that and had also brought in venture dollars to the city, which is becoming an unlikely hotbed of B2B tech startups.

Torchlite鈥檚 platform provides mid-sized businesses and enterprise firms such as with a private marketplace of certified, on-demand digital marketing freelancers, such as technical architects, content creators, and writers. The company doubled revenue in 2017 compared to 2016.

鈥淎s digital marketing becomes increasingly specialized, many companies are turning to on-demand, independent consultants to fill gaps on their teams,鈥� Marshall said.

Torchlite plans to use the latest infusion to expand its network of digital marketing freelancers. It currently has 16 full-time employees and a network of 450 independent contractors.

鈥淲e鈥檒l be hiring more developers and investing in our recruitment and vetting team to make sure people coming into our network are fully certified and able to leverage the technology,鈥� she said.

Marshall previously worked on the product side at email marketing startup and then for after the latter acquired the former for $2.5 billion in 2013.

鈥淚 found that we had so many customers that were purchasing our technology but couldn鈥檛 find the right people, so they weren鈥檛 really using a lot of the functionality,鈥� she told Crunchbase News. 鈥淪o we developed a marketplace of certified marketing cloud experts that companies could access on demand so they could get more out of their technology.鈥�

Torchlite operates under the premise that more technology companies are 鈥渢hinking differently about their workforce鈥� in that they are more open to using freelancers or independent contractors.

鈥淪o many companies are purchasing all this great marketing technology but can鈥檛 find the right people to get the most out of it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 where Torchlite comes in.鈥�