Socialtext, the leading enterprise social software provider, today announced that it has received a strategic investment from Bedford Funding, a $1.4 billion technology investment fund and owner of Peoplefluent(TM), an industry-leading Talent Management solutions provider. This investment provides an infusion of capital to Socialtext, which will fuel its future growth and propel the company's existing strategy, offerings and services.

"This is an investment in our business that charts our path to accelerated growth and leadership within the world of enterprise social collaboration software," said Eugene Lee who will remain Socialtext's CEO. "With this and future available capital, and a currently profitable business, we are very excited by the ability to invest in the resources that will strengthen our position as the leader in the enterprise social landscape."

In addition, Peoplefluent plans to integrate Socialtext's enterprise social collaboration software into its Talent Management suite to provide customers a better way to share knowledge, experiences and ideas to inform best thinking inside their organizations. Socialtext will continue to operate under the Socialtext name and its employees, as well as existing customers, will benefit greatly from the investment. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are investing in Socialtext to help solidify its leadership position in enterprise social software. Our recent strategies have focused on creating solutions for our customers that enable greater employee engagement and collaboration across the enterprise," said Charles S. Jones, Managing Partner of Bedford Funding and Chairman and CEO, Peoplefluent. "This investment in Socialtext, and its industry leading social software, immediately advances our approaches in customer support, services, education and ongoing collaboration. Together, Peoplefluent and Socialtext will provide the industry's most advanced Talent Management platform, encompassing the most innovative enterprise social networking capabilities. The partnership of these two industry leaders was driven by strong customer demand and provides a powerful alternative to competitive offerings that lack the breadth and depth of our combined technologies."

Enterprise social networking has grown exponentially over the past decade and according to Forrester Research, the market for enterprise social software products will grow at an annual compound rate of 61 percent over the next five years, with the market surpassing $6.4 billion by 2016. With its transformative social software solution, Socialtext helps businesses effectively tap the power of their people by unlocking and releasing information and knowledge across teams, groups, departments, functional organizations, business units and company boundaries. Though quickly and easily adaptable for use in any industry, Socialtext's social software is particularly compatible to Talent Management since the company provides an easy-to-use platform intended for person-to-person connection throughout organizations, regardless of size.

"We are very excited to join the Bedford Funding family as the combination of our innovative social software, together with the like-minded approach that Socialtext and Peoplefluent share strengthens our position in the market and our vision of a fully connected, internal knowledge sharing network. From the beginning, we've laid out a successful path for the continued growth of enterprise social collaboration based on a proven adoption methodology that makes sense for our customers, their employees and their IT requirements. We look forward to being the growth engine in Silicon Valley for Peoplefluent to extend and enhance its Talent Management offering with Socialtext as its 'social layer'," concluded Lee.

In a recent Gartner November 2011 report titled, Business Gets Social, authored by Vice President and Distinguished Analyst Carol Rozwell, one of the primary key findings highlighted states, "Social media is changing the way business is conducted. It enables rapid mass collaboration and creates transparency by allowing formerly hidden social structures to emerge. The information generated in social networks can inform operational processes, facilitate engagement with employees, customers, business partners and the social Web, and create new business opportunities."

Socialtext offers social software that delivers a resource for customers to communicate, collaborate on internal projects and connect on the information necessary to be more effective in the workplace. The company provides a unique deployment model that meets companies' unique security requirements, while making sure they still reap the benefits of software as a service (SaaS) -- including fast deployment, fast iteration cycles, little or no maintenance and low total cost of ownership. By simplifying people's ability to share expertise, ideas and corporate data, Socialtext removes knowledge silos that have traditionally hampered companies' ability to respond to change and serve customers efficiently.

About Peoplefluent

Peoplefluent is transforming Talent Management through best-of-breed technology and expertise. With a deep focus on business intelligence and analytics, the Company's social, mobile and cloud-based technology gives clients the actionable insight required to make strategic decisions that drive better business results. Nearly 80 percent of the Fortune 100 use Peoplefluent Talent Management, Vendor Management and Workforce Compliance and Diversity solutions to manage salaried, hourly and contingent labor across their organization. These solutions manage the entire talent lifecycle from recruiting to onboarding and through the ongoing management of each person's career while helping organizations measure, analyze and empower their existing workforce. The Company's solutions currently support more than 5,100 organizations ranging in size from large, global corporations to small and medium-sized businesses, and it is used by more than 5 million users in 214 countries and territories around the world.

About Socialtext

Established in 2002, Socialtext was the first company to deliver social software to businesses. By unlocking knowledge, expertise, ideas and data, Socialtext eliminates information silos across the enterprise to drive superior business performance. Socialtext's enterprise social networking products -- including microblogging, blogs, wikis, profiles and social spreadsheets -- provide simpler ways for employees to share vital information and work together in real-time. Delivered in a variety of hosted cloud services, as well as on-site appliances, enterprise customers are provided with flexible deployment options that meet their security requirements. Built on a flexible, web-oriented architecture, Socialtext integrates with virtually any traditional system of record, such as CRM and ERP, enabling companies to discuss, collaborate, and take action on key business processes. More than 6,500 businesses worldwide have accelerated their business performance with Socialtext, including Egon Zehnder, Getty Images, Symantec, Meredith Corporation, NYU Stern, OSIsoft, and Epitaph Records. To learn more, visit www.socialtext.com .