Sprout Social

Sprout Social was incorporated under the laws of Delaware in April 2010, introduced its first product in 2011 and is headquartered in Chicago. The company names Justyn Howard, Aaron Rankin, Gilbert Lara and Peter Soung as its four co-founders; Howard formerly served as chief executive officer, Rankin as chief technology officer, Lara as chief creative officer and Soung as head of growth.⁠[1][1][1][2][2]

On December 12, 2019, the registration statement for Sprout Social’s initial public offering became effective; the company sold 8,823,530 shares of Class A common stock at $17 per share, and the shares were listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol SPT. The offering closed on December 17, with Goldman Sachs and Morgan StanleyMorgan StanleyMorgan Stanley is an American global financial services firm that grew from an investment banking partnership into a publicly traded financial group spanning investment banking, securities trading, wealth management, and investment management.Open the full entry as lead book-running managers.⁠[3][1][1][3][3]

The company has a dual-class share structure: each Class A share carries one vote, while each Class B share carries ten votes and can be converted into a Class A share at any time; all Class B shares are held by the co-founders, who together held approximately 72.9% of the voting power after the offering.⁠[1][1]

On August 2, 2023, Sprout Social acquired all of the equity of Tagger Media, Inc., an influencer marketing and social intelligence platform, for $144 million in cash, entering the influencer marketing category; part of the purchase was funded with $75 million borrowed under its credit facility.⁠[2][2][2]

On April 9, 2024, co-founder Justyn Howard informed the board that he would step down as chief executive officer on October 1; the board then appointed him executive chair from that date and appointed president Ryan Barretto to succeed him as chief executive officer. Barretto had been president since December 2020 and, before that, senior vice president of global sales since 2016; he previously worked at Salesforce.⁠[4][4][4][4][4]

On July 30, 2025, Sprout Social completed its acquisition of NewsWhip Group Holdings Limited, an Ireland-based provider of real-time social intelligence, using its real-time media monitoring and predictive analytics to enter the public relations and crisis monitoring space. Consideration comprised an upfront cash payment of $52.3 million, deferred consideration of $3.2 million and an earnout of up to $10 million tied to NewsWhip’s financial performance through June 30, 2027; $32 million of the upfront payment came from borrowings.⁠[2][2][2][2][2]

On March 11, 2026, chief financial officer and treasurer Joe Del Preto left the company, and the board appointed chief executive officer Ryan Barretto as interim principal financial officer and interim principal accounting officer until a replacement is named.⁠[5][5]

On May 7, 2026, Sprout Social announced that its board had authorized the repurchase of up to $50 million of its Class A common stock.⁠[6]

On June 10, 2026, the company announced that co-founder and director Aaron Rankin would again become chief technology officer on August 3, succeeding Alan Boyce, who resigned, while remaining on the board.⁠[7][7]

On July 8, 2026, the board approved a workforce reduction plan to streamline the organization and align the cost base with strategic priorities, including AI-powered social intelligence; the company is cutting about 20% of its workforce, approximately 260 employees, began notifying affected employees on July 15, expects pre-tax restructuring charges of $18 million to $20 million, mainly severance, and plans to substantially complete the plan by the end of the third quarter of 2026.⁠[8][8][8][8]

Sprout Social positions itself as a centralized platform for unlocking the commercial value of social media and aims to be businesses’ system of record for social; customers can handle social customer care, publishing, reporting and analytics, reputation management, influencer marketing, business intelligence, advocacy and workflow and collaboration through a single interface, and the platform’s AI and analytics, powered by its proprietary AI agent Trellis, deliver real-time social intelligence from more than 1 billion daily messages.⁠[2][2][2][2]

In 2025, Sprout Social’s revenue was $457.5 million, up 13% from $405.9 million in 2024, with subscriptions accounting for 99%; it posted a net loss of $43.3 million that year and has never achieved annual or quarterly profitability. Customers outside the United States accounted for about 26% of revenue. The company is headquartered in Chicago, with additional offices in Seattle, Dublin and Kraków. As of October 2026, its Class A common stock still trades on Nasdaq.⁠[2][2][2][2][2][2][8]

Sprout Social: Official website: https://sproutsocial.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[1]

X: Public account: https://x.com/sproutsocial (opens in a new window)⁠[9]

LinkedInLinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sprout-social-inc- (opens in a new window)⁠[9]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SproutSocial (opens in a new window)⁠[9]