Adbrain has raised USD7.5m in a Series A funding round led by Octopus Investments, while existing investors Notion Capital also participated.
Adbrain will use the funding for its ongoing expansion into the US and Europe, and to step up the recruitment in its engineering, big data and artificial intelligence teams.
Following the beta launch of its platform in February 2014, Adbrain onboarded some of the world’s most high-profile agencies and trading desks: Annalect (part of Omnicom Media Group Europe), The Exchange Lab, M&C Saatchi Mobile, Fetch and Somo.
Adbrain’s vision is to empower global advertisers with technology that allows them to leverage their data to better understand and reach mobile first, multi-screen consumers – whatever device those consumers are using.
Gareth Davies, CEO of Adbrain, says: “Adbrain has won the backing of investors and advertisers by creating a truly transparent advertising platform in an industry accustomed to black-box and managed-service solutions. By effectively responding to consumers’ new multi-screen habits and the rapid spread of connected devices, we are defining the future of advertising. This funding will further establish our authority in the space both in Europe and the US.”
The Adbrain platform allows advertisers to crunch their own data with second and third-party data to create custom audience ‘segments’ they can target – while also taking advantage of advanced automated technologies like real-time bidding and programmatic audience buying.
Frederic Lardieg, from the Ventures team at Octopus, says: “Adbrain represents an exciting opportunity in the booming mobile sector. The ad-technology space is a multi-billion dollar market and continues to experience significant growth. Combine this with the highly motivated and impressive team behind Adbrain and it is clear that this is a company that is set to make waves. We look forward to supporting Gareth and his team, particularly through introducing them to top tier talent, as Adbrain grows over the coming months.”
Adbrain’s initial seed funding round saw it raise USD1.5m from Notion Capital and a selection of renowned mobile and digital ad-technology angels in June 2013.
