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SOCi, a San Diego a developer of social media management and marketing software, said Thursday that it has raised $8.25 million in venture capital funding to boost sales and marketing.

Silicon Valleys Vertical Venture Partners and Grayhawk Capital, an Arizona-based technology fund, led the round. Additional investors included the Stanford University DAPER fund, Peninsula Ventures and Tallwave Capital.

Founded in 2012, SOCi makes software to manage social marketing on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Yelp, Instagram and others.

It launched its subscription software in early 2015. It targets sectors including large apartment managers, multi-location franchises, enterprise brands and digital ad agencies to help them manage and monitor social media.

A call to SOCi was not returned by press time, but Chief Executive Afif Khoury said in a statement "a new day in social media has arrived where large enterprises are finding themselves having to manage hundreds or thousands of local social media pages on behalf of their storefronts, agents, advisors and clients.

The companys technology helps solve the difficult workflow management issues faced by these multi-location businesses," said Khoury.

Last year, SOCi raised $2.5 million from angel investors including Taner Halicioglu, Facebook's first full-time employee, and Doug Hecht, former president of digital marketing agency Digitaria.

mike.freeman@sduniontribune.com;

Twitter:@TechDiego

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San Diego start-up SOCi raises $8.25 million to help brands manage social media - The San Diego Union-Tribune