• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 27, 2007

Focused on continued expansion, the search-centric digital agency iCrossing has received $62 million in funding from Goldman, Sachs and existing investors Oak Investment Partners, RRE Ventures and StarVest Partners L.P. Gaurav Bhandari, managing director of Principal Strategies at Goldman Sachs, is also joining iCrossing's board of directors.

The investment marks one of several recent growth initiatives since the addition of Don Scales, former CEO of Omnicom's Agency.com, as president.

"We continue to be focused on organic growth and growth through acquisitions," Scales said on Thursday. "We want to be a leading digital marketing agency, so acquisitions in any area, whether it's creative or mobile, are possible."

In April, iCrossing tapped JumpTap to give its clients an initial mobile edge. Under the partnership, iCrossing is providing its clients with ad placement on the mobile Web sites of U.S. wireless carriers through JumpTap's white-label mobile search and advertising system.

In March, it agreed to acquire Sharp Analytics to combine iCrossing's digital-marketing services with Sharp's proprietary marketing dashboard technology, SharpView. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Also this year, iCrossing acquired a U.K.-based SEM company named Spannerworks for about $18 million. In addition to search engine marketing and optimization, Spannerworks gave iCrossing a marketing practice focused on social networking and viral initiatives. (With the deal, iCrossing also gained its first office outside of the United States.)

"Social media is a huge growth area for us, helping our clients understand what's being said about them online," said Scales. The company's market research business and its web development expertise are also in high demand, he added.

Late last year, the company acquired a San Francisco-based search agency, NewGate Internet, Inc. In addition, last year iCrossing hired three industry veterans with ties to Madison Avenue: Ian Baer, formerly chief strategic officer for TBWA's Tequila; Christopher Marquardt, formerly head of client services at Omnicom's Organic; and Lance Williams, from Agency.com.

"The company has successfully built upon its core expertise in search to create a 'next-generation' digital marketing agency," commented Ren Riley, general partner, Oak Investment Partners and iCrossing board member.

Founded in 1998 as a search marketing agency, iCrossing's clients now include Travelocity and some 40 Fortune 500 companies, including The Coca-Cola Company, General Motors and Office Depot.