Marin Software was founded in April 2006 by Christopher Lien, Wister Walcott, and Joseph Chang. Lien and Walcott are still with the company, with Lien as the Chief Executive Officer and Walcott as Executive Vice President, Product and Technology. Lien came up with the concept for Marin Software following a brief stint working for an online ad firm in 2005. He realized that search advertisers had no viable software for managing their online campaigns, especially larger advertisers. Lien shared his idea with Chang and a former high school classmate, Wister Walcott. Chang had built J.Crew's website and was a co-worker with Lien at Bluelight.com, Kmart's ecommerce site, when it launched in 1999. Walcott, who came from software giant Siebel, required a bit more convincing. Alongside Lien, the duo drove up and down California's highway 101 in early 2006, interviewing search marketers in Silicon Valley about their experience managing online ads. After a half-dozen interviews, Walcott was convinced that new software was needed. In April 2007, Marin Search Marketer made its debut and became commercially available in North America, signing Razorfish, Trouvé Media, and ZipRealty. Marin Search Marketer has since become MarinOne and is intended for easy and efficient management of large-scale online advertising programs across search, social, and eCommerce. Marin Software expanded into the European market with the opening of its UK office in early 2009. Marin Software shared plans to expand into Asia Pacific with offices in Singapore and Shanghai in January 2011, this announcement coinciding with the announcement of a partnership with Baidu. In June 2011, Marin Software announced its expansion into Australia with the opening of an office in Sydney. The following year, they opened an office in Tokyo, Japan. Between 2006 and 2012, Marin raised more than $100 million in funding. The company reported revenue of $36 million in 2011 and $50 million in 2012. In late 2012, Marin Software's CEO, Chris Lien, remarked to MediaPost that the company would undergo an IPO in 2013. On February 13, 2013, Marin Software filed with the SEC for a $75 million initial public offering. On March 22, 2013 the company went public, selling 7.5 Million shares at a price of 14 Dollars per share, raising $105 million at a valuation of $425 million. On September 24, 2014 Marin Software announced the launch of the Marin Audience Marketing Suite. On June 12, 2018, Marin launched MarinOne, its next-generation advertising platform for advertisers and agencies, at SMX Advanced in Seattle. MarinOne enables marketers to integrate all digital advertising data into one central platform, align campaigns across publishers to maximize ROI, and amplify publisher tools to drive the best possible performance. In 2020, Marin Software Incorporated improved by 8.46% from its current selling price relative to the high 1-year valuation of $5.78 and fell by -309.93%, though MRIN stocks earned + 15.57% over the last five trading sessions.
