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Q2

2015

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
In This Issue
Company Summaries
2
Venture Capital Market Update
3
Dstillery
Shedding Light on New Digital Buying Practices: Dstilery Named Tier 1 Compliant
4
MediaMath
MediaMath Appoints Saurabh Dangwal as VP-Sales
6

RANKED: The Hotest pre-IPO ad tech startups of 2015
7

MediaMath Announces Digital Advertising Expert as Sales Director for Spain
7

Brunswicks Comart joins MediaMath as first global comms head
7

MediaMath Appoints Media Industry Veteran Oeter Oiazza as General Counsel
8
Integral Ad Science
ABC Report Highlights Integral Ad Sciences Content Verification Product
10

Integral Ad Science Releases Q1 2015 Report with Industrys First Mobile In-App Viewability...
11

Digilant Announces Strategic Partnership with Integral Ad Science
11

Integral Ad Science Adds Four Data Technoloyg Experts to Its Team
12

Integral Ad Science Opens Offices in Paris, Tokyo
13
Skyword
Skyword Hiring, Opening Office in Pittsburgh
14

Skyword Announces 1st Annual Content Rising Summit in Boston
14

Skyword Cited for Highest Gross Customer Satisfaction Scores in Content Marketing Report
15
Simpli.fi
Simpli.fi Extends Capabilities of Its Programmatic Platform for Localized Campaigns
17
Localytics
Localytics Acquires Splitforce to Accelerate Predictive App Marketing Capabilities
19

Localytics Introduces Apple Watch SDK
20

Former ExactTarget Head of Sales, Scott Bleczinski, Joins Localytics as CRO
20

App Marketer Localytics Adds Roku and Email to Its Repertoire
21
Pixability
Pixability Completes $18M Series C Financing
22

Pixability Execs Co-Author Definitive Book on YouTube Strategy
23
Qualia
Qualia Named a Finalist in the Ad Serving Platform Category in Digidays Signal Awards
24
LISNR
CNBC Names LISNT a Top 50 Digital Disruptor
26

LISNR Lures Exec from one of Americas Largest Music Tech Firms
27

LISNR Wins Best Content Marketing Tech Platform in 2015 Digiday Content Marketing Awards
27

LISNR Second-Screen Technology Wins 2015 Gold Cannes Lion for Innovation in Mobile
28

Cinci. Company Poised for More Growth with Big Award, Additional Founder on Board
29
Iris.tv
Iris.tv Raises $5.3M to Deliver Video Recommendations
30

Friends,
We are pleased to provide you with an update on Progress Ventures for the second quarter of 2015. This year to date, we have completed our
first close of Fund 3, with our third investment in video recommendation engine technology company IRIS.TV.

Fund 1
Dstillery was named a Tier 1 Compliant company under Trustworthy Accountability Group Transparency Program.
MediaMath announced several key executive appointments including VP Sales, Sales Director for Spain, VP and Global Head of
Communications, and General Counsel.

Integral Ad Science opened offices in Paris and Tokyo, added four data technology experts to its team, partnered with Millennial

Media for first in-app viewability guarantee, partnered with Digilant to reinforce brand safety and high quality media placements, and
released a report with the industrys first mobile in-app viewability benchmark and international metrics.

Fund 2
Skyword hosted its first Annual Content Rising Summit in Boston over three days in June, and announced it will be moving to a larger
space in Pennsylvania as it grows its engineer team in Pittsburgh.

Trust Metrics recently partnered with JamLoop to bring brand safety scoring to JamLoops private video marketplace.
Simpli.fi extends the capabilities of its programmatic platform for localized campaigns with GPS-based geo-fencing.
Localytics acquired Splitforce to accelerate its predictive app marketing capabilities, introduced Apple watch SDK and former
ExactTarget Head of Sales, Scott Bleczinski, as CRO.
Pixability completed $18M Series C financing in late March.
Qualia was named a finalist in the Ad Serving Platform category in Digidays Signal Awards.

Fund 3
CraveLabs continues to gain traction and strengthen business development partnerships.
LISNR was named CNBC Top 50 Digital Disruptor, won Best Content Marketing Tech Platform in 2015 Digiday Content Marketing
Awards, and won a 2015 Gold Cannes Lion for innovation in mobile. Eric Allen, previously SVP at Gracenote for three years, joined as
a board member.

IRIS.TV raised $5.3M in Series A funding to expand its team, develop new features and continue business development.

Venture Capital Market Update


According to new data on venture capital (VC) investment trends in Q2 2015, U.S. VC markets invested in 1,189 deals, exceeding $17B for the
first time since Q4 2000. The report, from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) based on
data provided by Thomson Reuters, highlighted a quarterly 30% increase in dollar amount and 13% increase in deals, compared to Q1 2015
with $13.5B in 1,048 deals. Q2 2015 is the sixth consecutive quarter of more than $10B of venture capital invested in a single quarter.
Software companies captured $7.3B, increasing 30% from the prior quarter. Software industry investment exceeded the total VC dollars invested
across all industries in 51 of the last 82 quarters. The Media and Entertainment industry was the second largest industry for dollars invested
with $2.7B going into 118 deals, an increase of 127% in dollars and 34% rise in deals. The Biotechnology industry placed third for largest total
for dollars invested in Q2 with $2.3B, a 32% increase, and second in terms of deals with 126 deals, a flat number.
There were 26 megadeals of $100M or greater in Q2, including a billion dollar investment, marking four of the last five quarters with billion
dollar investments. Venture capital in 2015 is on track to exceed the $50B invested in 2014.
Seed stage investment was up 85% in dollars and 81% in deals with $169M in 47 deals in Q2. However, investments in later stage companies fell
5% to $4.2B in 221 deals, accounting for 19% of total deal volume in Q2.
Overall, the VC scene in the U.S. and globally continues to show growth with increases in amounts invested and number of deals, and the U.S.
is on track to reach a banner $70B year.

Progress Ventures Update


Since the first close of Fund 3 on March 31, we continue to see strong developments from the portfolios of Funds 1, 2, and 3. A third of our
holdings have completed growth stage financings, and their topline growth has tracked well. As we dig into the newest investments of Fund 3,
the bulk of our efforts are directed to increase sales growth through introductions across our network in the media and marketing landscape.
Outside of Fund 3, for the most part, our portfolio companies have reached a critical mass of sales momentum and no longer need our direct
assistance.
While we are in the investment period of Fund 3, our fundraise efforts will continue through the first half of next year. Our focus on expanding
our network of Limited Partners continues in earnest.
As always, thank you for your support and interest in our firm. We hope youve had a prosperous first half of 2015 and wish you the best for
the second half of this year.

Nick MacShane
Founding Partner
nick@progressventures.com

Sam Thompson
Founding Partner
sam@progressventures.com

TOM PHILLIPS | DSTILLERY CEO

Shedding Light on New Digital Buying


Practices: Dstillery Named Tier 1
Compliant
Trustworthy Accountability Group Article

| June 2, 2015

http://bit.ly/1gHG41W

Dstillery (formerly Media6Degrees) is at the forefront of


advertising technology, pioneering new ways to create
brand value for marketers by extracting signals from the
complete customer journey and activating them across all
screens. The company is building on five years of leading
the data revolution in marketing to drive even greater
impact for each of its brand. They work with over 400
top-tier brands, and have been recognized as one of Forbes
Top 100 Most Promising Companies in America and
Crains Best Places to Work in New York.
For more information, visit: http://www.dstillery.com

When the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) was created last


year, it was given a mandate to tackle four of the most significant

challenges affecting the digital advertising supply chain: fraud, piracy,


malware, and lack of transparency.

Already this year, TAG has unveiled two major initiatives: the first to

reduce piracy by validating trusted anti-piracy technology providers

and the second to fight fraud through a shared industry database of


domains that are known sources of fraudulent traffic.

Today, TAG is pleased to update our progress in improving

transparency through the Business Transparency Compliance

Program. The program, formerly run by the Interactive Advertising


Bureau and known as the Quality Assurance Guidelines (QAG), will
henceforth be managed by TAG and renamed the Inventory Quality

Guidelines (IQG) during Q3 of 2015, a name that better captures the


purpose of the program.

The IQG help leading companies establish an environment of trust


in the digital advertising marketplace through a common framework
to describe and disclose the characteristics of advertising inventory.

While all past compliance has been self-certified, going forward


TAG will require that all IQG-compliant companies undergo

an independent validation from a third-party, TAG-approved


auditor. Today we are delighted to announce that the following

three companies have taken the lead in achieving a higher level of

compliance by selecting that independent audit option and therefore

companies will have a reasonable period to comply with the new

requirements before being invited to screen and select from our

accredited auditors starting January 1, 2016. We will then review

the submissions by the deadline of March 31, 2016 to determine and


publish those companies compliant under the new IQG 2.1.

becoming Tier 1 Compliant under the QAG 2.0:

Dstillery
engage:BDR
OpenX
Going forward, TAG plans a series of important changes as part of

the Inventory Quality Guidelines 2.1. There will be three main areas
of improvement, all designed to help the IQG reach a wider audience
and offer a more robust set of disclosures for the benefit of the Digital
Advertising Industry:

1. The disclosure requirements will incorporate programmatic


considerations, to conform to the current reality of the digital

advertising ecosystems Real-Time Bidding and Programmatic


solutions.

2. The guidelines will be open to inventory buyers, i.e. advertisers,


agencies, and trade desks, to ensure that they are also encouraged
to make certain disclosures to their business partners about their

advertising, making our ecosystem more transparent and trustworthy


throughout the supply chain.

3. In order to create a stronger set of rules, the guidelines will mandate


independent validation to highlight the need for in-depth auditing
mechanisms and reinforce the industrys commitment to providing
more transparency in the advertising transaction process.

TAGs Business Transparency Committee will review the suggested


edits, finalize changes, and the document will be approved by the

TAG Board for implementation. If you would like to participate in

the guidelines revision process, feel free to email us at info@tagtoday.


net.

This set of updated guidelines will be published during Q3 of 2015,


and it will be implemented for the next IQG 2.1 Compliance
Cycle, from April 1, 2016 until March 31, 2017. Upon training on

the requirements of the guidelines and the enforcement process,

JOE ZAWADZKI | MediaMath CEO

MediaMath Appoints Saurabh Dangwal as VPSales


Published by DMA News Desk, Digital Market, Asia

Based in New York with 12 locations across five

| May 15, 2015

http://read.bi/1Jwcua3

continents, MediaMath develops digital marketing


technology and offers deep industry expertise, enabling
marketers to connect with consumers individually and
at scale across the entirety of the worlds digital media.
MediaMaths TerminalOne Marketing Operating System

MediaMath, the creator of the TerminalOne Marketing Operating


System for digital marketers, has appointed Saurabh Dangwal as Vice
President of Sales, APAC. Mr Dangwals appointment coincides with
MediaMaths move to a brand new office space in Singapore, from
where he will be based.

enables marketers to customize their own technology


infrastructure and leverage their data and industry data
in the planning, execution, optimization and analysis of
digital marketing programs, resulting in smarter decisions
that grow their business. Powering the operations for

Mr Dangwal joins MediaMath from MediaCom, one of the worlds


leading media agencies, and among the largest digital agencies in the
Asia Pacific region. As the former Head of Digital for P&G across
APAC, he brings a wealth of regional experience, alongside expertise
in managing multi-million-dollar digital media budgets and

thousands of marketers, including those representing 55

strategies. Prior to MediaCom, Mr Dangwal was an entrepreneur

percent of the Fortune 100, TerminalOne enables its users

who introduced leading global ad technologies into the region.

to drive transformative business results across the entire


digital ecosystem.
For more information, visit http://www.mediamath.com

Dangwal has also led sales teams at Komli Media and Yahoo! India.
Rahul Vasudev, Managing Director, APAC, at MediaMath, said,
We are delighted to welcome Saurabh to the MediaMath team. His
passion for technology is without parallel in the region, and he is
one of the smartest digital media practitioners I have the pleasure of
knowing. At a time of significant growth for MediaMath, Saurabhs
knowledge and consultative approach will be invaluable to our
current and future clients in the APAC region.

MediaMath is one of the worlds leading global technology

MediaMind), the worlds largest independent third-party ad server

companies, commented Mr Dangwal. The business is renowned for

and a MediaMath OPEN partner. During his eight years at Sizmek,

its enterprise level technology platform, clear focus on transparency,

Platero progressed from Account Manager Spain, to Onboarding

and open ecosystem. Despite being a recent entrant into Asia,

Specialist and Sales Account Manager. Prior to that, Platero held

MediaMath has rapidly become the partner of choice for discerning

positions at Recoletos, PRISA Brand Solutions and 24/7 Media.

agencies and advertisers looking to build customised solutions

Platero also lectures in Adserving and Campaign Analytics at The

that drive powerful business results. I am excited to be joining this

Valley Digital Business School.

visionary team and accelerating our growth in the region, he added.


Gonzalo Garca, Country Manager, Spain, at MediaMath, commented,
We are delighted to welcome Ishaq to the MediaMath team. Spain is a

RANKED: The hottest pre-IPO ad tech


startups of 2015 (MediaMath ranked #5)

prime focus for MediaMath at a time when programmatic investment


in the region is poised for significant growth. Ishaqs unparalleled
expertise and knowledge of the digital advertising ecosystem will be
vital for our clients, both international and domestic.

Published by Business Insider

| May 19, 2015


This is an exciting time for the adoption of programmatic in Spain,

http://read.bi/1Jwcua3

and MediaMath is at the helm, commented Platero. There is huge


The majority of ad tech companies on the public markets may have

potential for growth as more companies recognise the benefits

fared badly in recent months, but behind the scenes there are some

programmatic technology can deliver. I look forward to accelerating

seriously interesting pre-IPO ad tech startups

MediaMaths expansion in the region.

This ranking looks at the hotter companies subject to IPO (or at least

Plateros appointment follows the opening of the MediaMath office in

big exit deal) rumors right now. Our data comes from CrunchBase,

Madrid as a result of growing adoption of programmatic technology

LinkedIn, our own reporting, and that of other business publications.

in the region, as well as demand from MediaMath clients for on-the-

Weve tried to rank them by revenues, but have also taken into account

ground expertise in Spain. The programmatic advertising market is

headcounts, venture funding, and recent news and whispers.

evolving rapidly, with sectors such as retail, travel, automation, and


telecom leading the way in adopting automated ad serving.

MediaMath Announces Digital Advertising


Expert as Sales Director for Spain: Former
Sizmek executive hired to drive programmatic
growth in the region
MediaMath Press Release

| June 1, 2015

Brunswicks Comart joins MediaMath as


first global comms head
Published in PR Week

| June 8, 2015

http://bit.ly/1G7eAdP

http://bit.ly/1IVXqEs

AMarketing technology company MediaMath has appointed former


MediaMath, the creator of the TerminalOne Marketing Operating
SystemTM for digital marketers, today announced the appointment of
Ishaq Platero as Sales Director, Spain.
A proven digital professional with over a decade of experience in
online advertising, Platero joins MediaMath from Sizmek (formerly

Brunswick Group associate Jesse Comart as VP and global head of


communications, a newly created role.
Comart, who worked at Brunswick for the last three years, joined
MediaMath on May 26, he said. He reports to CMO Rachel Meranus.

Representatives from Brunswick were not immediately available for


comment regarding Comarts departure.
The company wasnt advertising for the position his appointment
happened organically from a reference, said Comart.
One of Comarts main goals is centralizing the communications
function, he said.
MediaMath has a big marketing team who, in many respects, are
doing different elements of communications, so my first priority is to
understand what is currently going on, bringing that all together, and
finding out what the gaps are, explained Comart.
Four staffers from the marketing team have transitioned to the comms
department, reporting in to Comart. He said hes not looking to
immediately hire, but hell probably be ready to bring on some new
comms team members in the next few months.
Since MediaMath has more than 600 employees with offices in New
York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, London,
Paris, Singapore, and Tokyo, Comart added that he wants to make
sure the brand has a consistent messaging across staff and divisions.
In addition to internal engagement, Comart is leading external
communications, analyst relations, and public affairs for MediaMath.
He said the company has a tremendous reputation among trade
publications, but it wants to build a stronger connection with major
business media outlets, like Wall Street Journal and The New York
Times.
Comart, who previously worked at the Glover Park Group and on
Capitol Hill, said he decided to join MediaMath because the marketing
technology industry is growing at a rapid speed and he respects the
companys leadership team.
He added that his campaign experience will translate nicely into his
role at MediaMath because he knows how to work toward an end goal
and he understands political and regulatory issues.

MediaMath Appoints Media Industry


Veteran Peter Piazza as General Counsel
MediaMath Press Release

| June 16, 2015

http://bit.ly/1M37Ilh

MediaMath, the creator of the TerminalOne Marketing Operating


System for digital marketers, has appointed Peter Piazza as General
Counsel to lead the day-to-day operations of the companys legal
team, advise MediaMaths executive team and Board of Directors, and
support the companys aggressive 2015 and 2016 growth plans.
We are pleased to welcome Peter to our company, said Joe Zawadzki,
CEO of MediaMath. Peter has an excellent track record in supporting
high-growth, global companies. He also embodies the businessoriented, entrepreneurial spirit that is at the core of the MediaMath
culture.
In his role, Piazza will oversee all legal matters at MediaMath and
support the companys commercial operations through a growthoriented global legal function. Piazza will advise on legal aspects
of MediaMaths financings and support in the definition and
development of corporate policies, procedures and programs. He will
also help ensure the companys ongoing compliance with data privacy,
laws and regulations.
Prior to joining MediaMath, Piazza served in senior legal roles at The
Nielsen Company, including Deputy Chief Legal Officer and Senior
Vice President and General Counsel. In his most recent position at
Nielsen, he acted as lead lawyer for the companys retail measurement
and analytics business in North America, served as the head of its
commercial transactions group, and was responsible for all M&A
activity globally. Piazza joined Nielsen following its acquisition of
NetRatings, Inc. in 2007, where he spent five years as the companys
Deputy General Counsel. Prior to that, he served as General Counsel
of Fulcrum Analytics, Inc. (formerly Cyber Dialogue Inc.) and began
his career as a corporate associate at Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver &
Jacobson LLP. Piazza has a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School
and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Colgate University.
Im thrilled to be joining MediaMath at this exciting stage in its
growth, said Piazza. The company is in a high-growth space and has

a proven track record for building and delivering truly innovative,


game-changing technology to the industry. Im excited for what is
ahead.

SCOTT KNOLL | Integral Ad Science CEO

ABC Report Highlights Improved


Performance for Integral Ad Sciences
Content Verification Product

Integral Ad Science is a technology company focused

Press Release by Integral Ad Science

on ensuring safe, quality media environments for

http://bit.ly/1DnCc04

online advertisers. Employing the industrys only media


valuation platform, Integral Ad Science evaluates the
media environment and establishes a TRAQ Score (True
Advertising Quality), a first-of-its kind, quantifiable

| April 30, 2015

Integral Ad Science, the leading global provider of actionable


advertising intelligence for buyers and sellers of digital media, today
has been awarded certification by ABC for its enhanced content
verification technology. The certificate provides transparency on the

measure of media quality that ultimately benefits every

capability of Integral Ad Sciences AdSafe Firewall product. This gives

media buyer, seller, publisher and trading platform. TRAQ

advertisers and agencies greater confidence in brand safety online and

score supports an advertisers ability to plan, execute

facilities the trading process.

and target their audience in an environment that reflects


their brand image and drives ROI, while simultaneously

Congratulations to Integral Ad Science for completing their Content


Verification (CV) technology testing. Their ABC certificate clearly

setting benchmarks for publishers who wish to improve

shows how Integral Ad Sciences AdSafe Firewall product performs

the quality of their media, content and design. Integral

against the industry-agreed JICWEBS principles for CV tools in the

is headquartered in New York with operations in San

area of brand safety online. This will provide the transparency and

Francisco, Chicago, London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.

reassurance advertisers need to invest further in online media, said


Jerry Wright, Chief Executive, ABC.

For more information, visit http://integralads.com


The ABC report which accompanies the certificate shows improvement
in the capability of Integral Ad Sciences product compared to results
from previous testing. This is a welcome development for advertisers
looking to improve their brands safety online. The report is available
at www.abc.org.uk/cv.

10

We are pleased to continue to be a part of ABCs Certification

As a result of Integral opening its anti-fraud lab in February, the

Programme. Content Verification is an important focus for buyers

company has been able to expand and engage in deep study of fraud

and sellers in todays changing digital ecosystem, and Integral Ad

at a global level. For the Q1 2015 Media Quality Report, Integral is

Science is committed to providing enhanced industry accredited

excited to debut a full-suite of international media quality benchmarks

tools to online advertisers, to help mitigate risk to brands, said Philip

including TRAQ, ad fraud, viewability and brand risk. Preliminary

Hayman, head of Sales Engineering EMEA, Integral Ad Science.

studies show that media quality is a global issue, with viewability


levels ranging from 42.3 percent in view for Germany to 51.8 percent

Integral Ad Sciences content verification technology enable

in view for the United Kingdom, and fraud levels ranging from 8.7

advertisers, agencies, ad networks, exchanges and publishers to utilise

percent for Australia to 12.9 percent for the UK.

a consistent, objective measurement of content, tonality and brand


appropriateness. By using Integral Ad Sciences AdSafe Firewall,

Integral is continuing to report on important media quality metrics

brands can advertise with confidence, networks can improve the

to provide transparency into the health of the advertising industry,

performance of their inventory and publishers can more effectively

said Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science. The addition of the

market their properties.

mobile in-app viewability metric shows to the industry that not all ads
are in view for this platform. Across the industry, we should continue

Integral Ad Science Releases Q1 2015


Report With Industrys First Mobile
In-App Viewability Benchmark and
International Metrics

to work together towards the creation of meaningful standards.


Overall, media quality levels remained relatively constant from Q4
2014 to Q1 2015. Due to Integrals acquisition of video analytics
expert Veenome earlier this year, the Q1 report features new video
engagement stats, such as 54.4 percent of video advertisements were

Press Release published by MarketWired

| April 22, 2015

found to be on autoplay.

http://mwne.ws/1PROgZv

Integral Ad Science, the leading global provider of actionable


advertising intelligence for buyers and sellers of digital media, today

Digilant Announces Strategic Partnership


with Integral Ad Science

released its Q1 2015 Media Quality Report. In this report, along


with updating existing industry standards, Integral is releasing the

Published by PR Newswire

industrys first in-app viewability benchmark and never-before-

http://prn.to/1IVZGvi

published international media quality metrics.


After analyzing 35 mobile in-app advertising campaigns over the
quarter, measuring approximately 1 billion mobile in-app impressions,
Integral found only 81 percent of in-app ads were viewable. Although
spending on mobile advertising campaigns continues to increase,
movement has been slow in creating media quality standards specific
to this area. Currently, most industry organizations assume that
impressions served in-app are generally viewable. Integrals industryfirst mobile statistic shows the critical need to develop mobile
standards. Integral is committed to working with the industry on this
initiative.

| May 4, 2015

Digilant, a leading global programmatic media company that partners


with the worlds leading agencies and brands to provide customized
and scalable programmatic media solutions, announced today the
launch of a strategic partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS),
the leading global provider of actionable advertising intelligence for
buyers and sellers of digital media.
This collaboration grants Digilant access to Integral Ad Sciences prebid solution, Bid Expert, which has been integrated into Digilants
proprietary bidding system. The integration improves Digilants
ability to effectively achieve clients target metrics by optimizing for
high viewability, brand safe placements, and avoiding serving ads

11

to fraudulent traffic. Through this partnership, Digilant will deliver


advertisements via intelligently-purchased inventory that leads to
meeting client campaign and business goals while continuing to
ensure that key audiences are successfully targeted worldwide.
We are thrilled to partner with Integral Ad Science to provide
an even deeper level of inventory security and brand safety for our
clients in markets around the globe and ensure that they are free of
concern about fraud while effectively reaching consumers, said Kim
Riedell, Digilants SVP of Product and Marketing. As viewability and
fraud continue to be major issues in the digital advertising space, our
relationship with Integral Ad Science assures our clients that we are
taking every step necessary to combat these issues.
Digilant has been beta testing with Integral Ad Sciences Bid Expert
technology and has already seen strong participation and interest in
the integration from existing clients.
Programmatic advertising is an increasingly critical part of all of our
media campaigns. The challenge is keeping brand safety a top priority
in an automated world, said Gary Mak, Media Director at Connelly
Partners. Were looking forward to this partnership between Digilant
and IAS, as it will provide incredible value in our efforts to achieve
both campaign and business goals, while optimizing for brand safety
and viewability for clients.
Digilants partnership with Integral Ad Science is great news as we
continue to work to provide our brand clients with the highest quality
media placements for their programmatic campaigns, said Emma
Coker, Media Strategist at Firehouse. This integration, coupled with
Digilants existing technology and data management platform, further
enhances our ability to reach the best possible audiences and drive
incredible ROI for clients.
Integral Ad Sciences partnership with Digilant is another example
of digital advertising companies working together to ensure that their
clients message is reaching their target consumers and not an artificial
audience, said Harmon Lyons, Vice President, Business Development
at Integral Ad Science. We look forward to working with Digilant
to continue to implement Bid Expert into its existing technology and
enhance the quality of digital advertising delivery for their current
and future clients worldwide.

Integral Ad Science Adds Four Data


Technology Experts to Its Team
Integral Ad Press Release

| May 4, 2015

http://bit.ly/1IKjeRx

Today, Integral Ad Science, the leading global provider of actionable


advertising intelligence for buyers and sellers of digital media,
announced the addition of four new executives to its technology and
data science team.
First, Integral has hired a new head of technology, Jamie Bernardin.
A successful executive leader with experience building massively
distributed computing systems, Bernardin will function as Integrals
chief technology officer, focusing on significantly expanding Integrals
engineering organization and scaling the companys product and
technology platform.
Integrals new senior vice president of data science, Sergei Izrailev
brings over 15 years of hands-on experience in data science and software
engineering across computational biophysics, chemo-informatics and
quantitative finance. Izrailev will apply his deep expertise in predictive
modeling and real-time bidding to the development of Integrals
innovative offering of actionable real-time data that empowers buyers
and sellers to value media and its effectiveness.
New senior vice president of product engineering Rob Molchon
is renowned for building top-tier global engineering and product
management organizations. Mr. Molchon comes to Integral with more
than 11 years in the online advertising sector and will leverage his
proven expertise in display, video and mobile ad serving solutions to
ensure that Integrals expanding product line meets the critical needs
of todays digital market.
In addition, Alexey Kharlamov joined Integral as vice president of
technology, bringing a proficiency in building real-time systems for
Fortune 500 companies across finance, energy and e-commerce. With
more than 15 years of experience in software engineering specializing
in distributed systems, Kharlamov now leads development and scaling
of real-time processing systems and data management platforms at
Integral.

12

The digital ad industry is evolving at such an astonishing pace that

In the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, Integrals new Tokyo office will

its crucial for us to have top talent developing exceptional solutions,

be led by Taro Fujinaka, managing director, and Takeshi Yamaguchi,

said Scott Knoll, CEO of Integral Ad Science. Jamie, Sergei, Rob and

client services manager. It is Integrals fourth office in APAC and

Alexey add diverse expertise in design, engineering and management

first office in Japan, but it is not Integrals first contact with Japanese

to the existing Integral team, which will further expand as we continue

marketers: The company struck a deal with Yahoo Japan last year.

our quest to hire outstanding data science and technology experts.


Osamu Aranami, corporate officer and president of marketing
With the hundreds of billions of impressions Integral processes

solutions company at Yahoo Japan, said in a prepared statement

quarterly, Integral understands the critical need data plays in the

that Yahoo Japan will scale its partnership with Integrals local team

ecosystem. Whether it is viewability, fraud or measuring impact, data

following the opening of the new office.

is the common thread that will propel the advertising technology


industry forward in unearthing solutions to these challenges and

Aranami also said theres a need in the [Japanese] marketplace for

others. In 2014, Integrals data science team and tech team grew by

brand safety and media measurement technology like Integrals.

88 percent and by 82 percent, respectively. In 2015 the company will


continue to aggressively invest in its talent, research and technology.

Integral Ad Science Opens Offices In Paris,


Tokyo
Published by MediaPost

| July 14, 2015

http://bit.ly/1DvDqXi

Digital ad measurement firm Integral Ad Science on Tuesday


announced it has opened two new offices to expand overseas. Integral
has set up shop in Paris, France, and Tokyo, Japan as part of its
expansion.
Yann Le Roux has been tapped to lead the Paris office. In addition to
the new office, Integral has inked a deal with Mdiamtrie, a French
audience measurement company, to aid in the development a GRP for
French online video advertisers.
Mdiamtrie is leading the charge on the GRPs, saying it has worked
with its media and advertising partners to design the methodology.
Specifically, Mdiamtrie will use Integrals viewability measurement
tech for its GRP project.
Per a release, beta testing for the new GRP is currently underway and
the service is expected to be live by the end of the month.

13

TOM GERACE | Skyword CEO

Skyword Hiring, Opening Office in


Pittsburgh
Skyword Press Release

| April 30, 2015

http://bit.ly/1NchsZ9

Skyword delivers all that marketers need to reach and


engage their audiences with quality, original content
designed to succeed in search and social media. Quality
content is essential for reaching and engaging consumers
today, but the creation process is messy, inconsistent and

A Boston-based marketing firm that creates content for the Web is


growing in Pittsburgh in terms of space and staff.
Skyword.com has signed a 7-year lease for 8,000 square feet in One
PPG Place and will move there in August, confirmed John Mihalik,
chief technology officer.

immeasurable. The Skyword Platform makes it easy to


produce, optimize, and promote content at any scale to
create meaningful, lasting relationships with customers.
Skyword also provides access to a community of thousands

The firm, which is based at Three Gateway Center, employs 19 in


Pittsburgh. Skyword has six technical/engineering posts in the region
open now, Mihalik said, and plans to add another 10 in 2016.Time
Zone Flexibility: The platform allows users to create assignments and

of professional writers, and its content strategy and

publish content in local time zones, providing a seamless process for

editorial teams can help ensure the ongoing success of

managing deadlines throughout the world. .

clients content programs. Skyword is a privately held,


privately funded company headquartered in Boston,
Massachusetts. Investors include Allen & Company,
Progress Ventures, Cox Media Group, and American
Public Media Group.
For more information, visit http://www.skyword.com.

Skyword Announces 1st Annual Content


Rising Summit in Boston
Skyword Press Release

| April 30, 2015

http://bit.ly/1IEQkOq

Skyword, the leading content marketing platform and services


company, announced that it will host Content Rising Summit, its first

14

multi-day conference for digital marketers and brand content creators.

brand storytelling, amplification, measurement and ROI, and scaling


content marketing globally.

WHAT: Content Rising Summit


WHEN: Tuesday, June 16 Thursday, June 18, 2015
WHERE: Westin Waterfront, 425 Summer St, Boston, MA 02210
TICKETS: http://www.skyword.com/content-rising-summit/
The event will give attendees the insight and inspiration needed grow
and engage audiences through original brand stories. Robert McKee,
screenwriting guru known for his Story Seminar, will show how
storytelling concepts are key for brands looking to differentiate and
build customer trust.
The Content Rising Summit will feature sessions that address the
many challenges marketers face in original content creation such
as editorial strategy, amplification, replicating content marketing
programs globally, and measuring business results.
Speakers Include:
Pam Didner Author of Global Content Marketing, former Global
Marketing Strategist at Intel
Jim Duffy Senior Director of Corporate Communications at ADP
Ann Handley Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs, author of
Everybody Writes and Content Rules
Andy Hilton Global Communications Executive at ADP
Ian Fitzpatrick Chief Strategy Officer at Almighty
Robert McKee Storytelling and screenwriting instructor, former
Professor at the University of Southern California
Patty Foley-Reid Director of Solutions Marketing and Demand
Generation at Veracode
Andrew Reinbold Marketing Manager at Anthem Inc
Dayna Rothman Senior Content Marketer at Marketo, Author of
Lead Generation for Dummies
Marcel Santilli Senior Content Marketing Manager at HewlettPackard
Tiffany Smith Senior Associate Editor at Care.com
Larry Vincent Chief Branding Officer at UTA Brand Studio
Presentations and roundtable discussions will touch on current
digital marketing trends and challenges including content strategy,

Skyword Cited for Highest Gross


Customer Satisfaction Scores in
Independent Content Marketing Platform
Report
Skyword Press Release

| July 1, 2015

http://bit.ly/1M7L9vT

Skyword, the leading content marketing technology and services


company, was among the select companies that Forrester Research
invited to participate in The Forrester Wave: Content Marketing
Platforms, Q2 2015. In this evaluation, Skyword was cited as a strong
performer, and the company received the highest gross customer
satisfaction scores in the evaluation.
The hectic pace of marketing in an always-on world demands a
high level of cross channel and cross team visibility and interaction,
the report said. Forresters latest Wave Report evaluated nine of the
most significant CMP vendors, and selected them for their ability
to deliver content across multiple channels, produce and distribute
written content, images, and video, and provide more than mere point
solutions to enterprise clients.
According to the report, Skyword is known by most content marketers
only for its pool of writers, photographers, and videographers, offered
as a service. A secret known only to its customers, who gave the vendor
the highest gross customer satisfaction scores in this evaluation, is the
rich functionality of its content marketing platform software.
The report also stated that Skywords acquisition of a video
management tool gives it unique functionality including frame-byframe, time-stamped comments.
Our mission at Skyword is to turn the best brands into the best brand
storytellers, said Tom Gerace, founder and CEO of Skyword. We
are helping transform marketing teams at todays leading brands into
publishing powerhouses as they connect with audiences in all parts of
the world in any format people choose. These organizations include

15

IBM, Veracode, HP, AutoTrader, Iron Mountain, United Way and


more.
Through Skywords enterprise-class technology, network of 4,600
vetted freelance writers, videographers, and photographers; and its
strategic and editorial services, the company helps large enterprises
throughout the world connect with audiences through original
sustainable storytelling.
To date, 660,000 original stories have been published on the Skyword
Platform, generating 800 million organic visits, 5 million Likes on
Facebook, and 2 million Tweets. Earlier this year, Skyword launched its
global capabilities, with an internationalized platform that is currently
available in 11 languages, 18 dialects and unlimited currencies.
Freelance writers and videographers are currently creating brand
stories in 22 countries including Brazil, China, Germany, Russia, and
Singapore.
Forrester confirmed that although the CMP vendor landscape is in its
infancy, growth potential is huge. [Users] see CMPs as collaboration
zones that feed into or draw insight from other products, the report
said. Much of the promise of CMPs is to provide higher visibility
across organizational boundaries.
Content marketing is clearly working, but there is tremendous
potential for where we can take it, said Gerace. Brands are investing
on a much larger scale to connect with people through stories they
love rather than interrupting them with ads and marketing methods
that no longer work. We will continue to work with our customers to
develop their story craft and innovate new technologies, formats, and
channels to deliver their stories anywhere in the world.

16

Frost Prioleau | Simpli.fi CEO

Simpli.fi Extends Capabilities of Its


Programmatic Platform for Localized
Campaigns with GPS-Based Geo-Fencing:
Press Release published by Business Wire

Simpli.fi is an advertising technology company that simpli-

| April 29, 2015

http://bit.ly/1JDnyTR

fies digital advertising through the use of unstructured


data. Our In.finity Programmatic Marketing Platform
enables marketers to use unstructured data to extract
unlimited value from real-time bidding (RTB) advertising exchanges. With In.finity, advertisers can target, bid,
optimize and report at the data element level.
For more information, visit http://www.simpli.fi

Simpli.fi, which brings the power of programmatic advertising to


localized campaigns, today announced its Geo-Fencing capability,
a unique location-based ad targeting solution that helps businesses
drive mobile ad performance and reach. Geo-Fencing, which can
be accessed directly from within the Simpli.fi user interface, allows
advertisers to use latitude and longitude data to precisely target
consumers within defined, customizable geographic areas, such as a
specific store location, auto dealer, mall, airport, or sporting venue.
Our Geo-Fencing solution combines the scale of programmatic
with the accuracy of GPS, and represents a leap forward for localized
advertising. Combining our reach and accuracy with the transparency,
optimization and reporting that Simpli.fi is known for, Geo-Fencing is
a smart choice for advertisers targeting local markets.
The proliferation of smart phone usage enables advertisers to reach
consumers with highly relevant ads based on the users recent or
current location. Recent reports show that more than 50 percent of
consumers actively respond to local, geo-based advertisements. The
combination of increased smart phone usage and the increasing
effectiveness of targeted mobile advertisements has created demand
for Simpli.fis Geo-Fencing capability, which takes advantage of the

17

companys ability to optimize custom audiences for the needs of local


advertisers.
KEY HIGHLIGHTS:
- Simpli.fi Geo-Fencing delivers mobile performance and mobile
reach with the most accurate way to target mobile users in a businesss
proximity.
- The service provides powerful, location-based advertising services
that are built, launched, optimized and reported on from Simpli.fis
user interface.
- Users can leverage targeted campaigns only to customers within a
pre-determined physical proximity, as close as 100 meters.
- Local businesses such as auto dealerships, retailers or professional
services can easily target and retarget consumers near their location or
their competitors locations.
- Simpli.fis Geo-Fencing supports GeoJSON files such as political
districts, municipalities, etc., as well as other existing shape data files
that can be used to target specific geographies. The Simpli.fi GeoFencing capability also allows users to create the custom shapes that
work best for their individual business.
- Simpli.fi is the only programmatic platform that bids, optimizes
and reports using unstructured data, including recency, across all
inventory types making it the most effective platform for localized
campaigns at any scale.
Frost Prioleau, Simpli.fi Chief Executive Officer
Our Geo-Fencing solution combines the scale of programmatic
with the accuracy of GPS, and represents a leap forward for localized
advertising. Combining our reach and accuracy with the transparency,
optimization and reporting that Simpli.fi is known for, Geo-Fencing is
a smart choice for advertisers targeting local markets.

18

RAJ AGGARWAL | Localytics CEO

Localytics Acquires Splitforce to Accelerate


Predictive App Marketing Capabilities
Localytics Press Release

Localytics is the leading marketing and analytics platform

| April 14, 2015

http://bit.ly/1I0LUX7

for mobile and web apps. Localytics works with some of


the worlds most well-known brands, like eBay, Salesforce,
Microsoft and The New York Times, helping them create
great experiences for their customers and maximizing
profitability, engagement, lifetime value and loyalty.

Localytics, the complete marketing and analytics platform for mobile


and web apps, today announced the acquisition of Splitforce, an
automated optimization tool purpose-built for mobile apps. With the
acquisition, Splitforce co-founders Zac Aghion and David Ruiz join
the Localytics team, bringing additional data science expertise to fuel

Localytics provides analytics and marketing for more than

the companys predictive app marketing capabilities. Predictive app

1 billion devices across more than 20,000 apps. Localytics

marketing helps app marketers and product managers leverage user

headquarters are located in Boston, MA.

data to predict and personalize engagement with app users at every

For more information, visit http://www.localytics.com

stage of the customer journey.


Apps have dramatically increased consumers expectations for
experiences catered to their individual needs, while giving businesses
a new dataset to tap into for better decisioning, said Raj Aggarwal,
CEO of Localytics. Were focused on helping businesses turn that
data into personalized engagement, and Splitforce has the best team
and technology in place to deliver on the cutting-edge of that mission:
predictive app marketing.
Over 250 mobile applications, including Marks & Spencers Cook
with M&S, have used Splitforce to test and target different variations
of app experiences and marketing messages and collect data on how
each variation performs against the apps key metrics. Through the
application of machine learning algorithms called Auto-Optimization,

19

the tool learns to show successful variations more often and quickly

and the impact of cross-channel promotion when, for example, users

eliminates suboptimal variants. With Auto-Optimization, app

view messages on their Watch and convert on other channels. App

marketers and product managers save time optimizing their apps

owners can then use that insight to create relevant, timely marketing

while also driving higher user engagement and retention through

campaigns via the integrated Push API, which facilitates the ability

more effective, targeted marketing. The mass proliferation of mobile

to create, A/B test, preview, and send push notifications without

and web apps has made the app opportunity a data opportunity,

requiring new app versions or development support.

said Zac Aghion, Splitforce Co-Founder and CEO. Localytics and


Splitforce share the vision to empower marketers with data-driven,

App marketers must know what users are doing in Watch apps in order

predictive insights personalized to each of their app users.

to send topical and targeted push notifications that draw users back
into the app rather than pushing them away by opting out. Users who

Aghion joins Localytics to lead Localytics predictive actions team,

enable push have a nearly three times higher retention rate compared

which focuses on converting granular data into powerful insights that

to those who disable push. With app marketing and analytics in one

predict a users next move. Co-founder David Ruiz joins Localytics

platform, businesses can engage Watch users in a variety of ways,

engineering team. The deal closed at the end of March for an

including:

undisclosed amount.
Media/entertainment apps can compare which users view breaking

Localytics Introduces Apple Watch SDK


To Expand Engagement Opportunities for
App Marketers

news on the Watch versus the iPhone and adjust the length of their
notifications accordingly. Health and fitness apps can serve Watch
users with real-time information about their workout intensity to help
them reach their fitness goals. Retailers can notify frequent buyers of a
location-based promotion when they pass a certain store and monitor

Localytics Press Release

| May 7, 2015

http://bit.ly/1UqhAZa

the promotions effect on the buyers purchases across all channels.


Travel apps can alert travelers of critical updates like long wait times
at security, gate changes or baggage claim carousels. The Apple Watch

Localytics, the complete marketing and analytics platform for

SDK is available to all Localytics customers and is bundled with the

mobile and web apps, today introduced its Apple Watch Software

companys iOS SDK.

Development Kit (SDK). The kit enables mobile marketers to analyze


how their users are engaging with the Apple Watch, send timely and
targeted messages to the Watch, and monitor the role of the Watch on
cross channel behaviors.

Former ExactTarget Head of Sales, Scott


Bleczinski, Joins Localytics as Chief
Revenue Officer

The Apple Watch represents a new engagement opportunity for


businesses, but its still early days so its important for app owners to

Localytics Press Release

get a clear sense of how their users are interacting with the Watch,

http://bit.ly/1JO8EtG

| May 18, 2015

said Raj Aggarwal, CEO of Localytics. Our Apple Watch SDK gives
our customers the best chance of understanding how the Watch will

Localytics, the complete marketing and analytics platform for mobile

impact their business, providing them with the knowledge they need

and web apps, today announced that Scott Bleczinski has joined the

to craft a relevant, personalized app marketing strategy.

company as its first Chief Revenue Officer. A long-time sales leader for
ExactTarget, Scott will oversee Localytics Sales and Customer Success

With the Localytics Apple Watch SDK, app marketers can monitor

organizations to help drive the companys go-to-market activities and

Watch usage in real-time to understand how their users are interacting

continued growth.

with the Watch, how app usage differs on the Watch versus other devices,

20

Our rapid growth makes this a very important role for the company

expansion to Roku, CEO and founder Raj Aggarwal told me, is

going forward, said Raj Aggarwal, CEO of Localytics. Scotts

far more exciting than the Watch, because it helps marketers bring

experience in leading ExactTargets fast-growing sales organization,

connected TVs into the customers world of apps.

his deep understanding of our market, and his focus on delivering


great customer experiences make him the ideal candidate.

Both expansions point to the proliferation of apps to a growing range


of new platforms, including TVs, set-top boxes, cars, appliances,

Scott brings nearly 15 years experience in driving sales and growth

home automation systems, and more. It seems that everything is

to Localytics. He spent eight years as the Executive Vice President of

becoming a platform.

Sales for ExactTarget, where he led sales growth from $1M to $115M,
eventually leading to the companys acquisition by Salesforce in 2013.

In addition to adding Roku, Localytics is adding some new tools

Most recently, he served as Chief Revenue Officer at Docurated, and

to its toolkit for addressing these new platforms: email, Automated

has held senior leadership positions at Zmags and Compendium.

Scheduling, and Dynamic Messaging. Email adds that channel to the

Scott also serves as a board member at Shoutlet and as an advisor to

companys repertoire, as it had been previously employing partners

TinderBox. This is a once in a life time opportunity to join a company

to provide this function. The idea, Aggarwal said, is to allow app

dominating its category, said Bleczinski. Localytics is well positioned

marketers a way to reach users in different places. The platforms

to lead the fast-growing app economy, and I look forward to helping

email capability offers the key features of modern emailing, including

drive the next phase of growth for the company.

drip campaigns for initial emails and planned followups. Automated


Scheduling enables the creation of those drip campaigns. Previously,

Scott rounds out the companys talented management team, which

Aggarwal said, the platforms default was one message per device,

includes senior leaders with impressive track records from companies

and anything after that was part of a customized effort. Dynamic

like LogMeIn, Constant Contact, Brightcove, HubSpot and Rapid7.

Messaging adds a new granularity to Localytics communications.

He joins at an exciting time for the company, as Localytics recently

Instead of sending the same message to a segment like all inactive

raised a $35M series D funding round and passed the 200 employee

app users, for instance the platform now enables email, in-app

mark, continuing to expand its footprint with offices in Boston, San

messages, or push notifications to have content personalized by

Francisco and London.

location, personal preferences, or language.

App Marketer Localytics Adds Roku and


Email to Its Repertoire
Published by VentrueBeat

| June 17, 2015

Competitors in the app marketing space including AppBoy, which


Aggarwal says does some email but isnt doing analytics based
on profiles. Kahuna, he noted, also does email but is more focused
on after-the-fact stats, like whether an email was opened, than on
continual analytics about app performance.

http://bit.ly/1GeXqHY

Like its competitors, Localytics is busily launching new features


App marketing and analytics, being a relatively new field, is constantly

as marketers keep demanding more. VB Insights recent report,

reinventing what it does. Todays reinvention comes from Boston-

Mobile App Analytics: What winning mobile developers use,

based Localytics, which is adding some new marketing features

rated Localytics as having the highest overall score of any analytics

and bringing digital media set-top box Roku into its fold.

solution.

In May, Localytics announced a software development kit (SDK) for

In April, Localytics bought Splitforce, adding automated A/B testing

Apple Watch apps, allowing marketers to target messaging to, and

and mobile predictive analytics. The acquisition followed a $35

retrieve analytics from, that wearable. Apps on Roku are now similarly

million investment round in March, which brought the total raised

part of Localytics marketers targets for tracking and messaging. The

so far to just under $60 million.

21

BETTINA HEIN | Pixability CEO

Video Ad Buying and Marketing


Technology Company Pixability Completes
$18 Million Series C Financing
Pixability Press Release

| April 8, 2015

http://bit.ly/1EFKcHY

Pixability is a YouTube-certified marketing and advertising

As global brands increasingly turn to online video marketing as a

software company that works with brands, e-commerce

key revenue generator, Pixability, a video ad buying and marketing

firms, agencies, and innovative organizations to drive


business and awareness with online video and YouTube.
Using its powerful, proprietary, cloud-based video

technology company, today announced it has closed a $18 million


Series C financing round led by Jump Capital and Edison Partners,
bringing total funding to $28 million. All existing investors, including
Point Judith Capital and Quad Graphics, also participated in the

marketing software and online video and community

round. Pixability has achieved a cumulative sales compound annual

analytics databases, Pixabilitys certified and seasoned

growth rate of 240% over the past five years. The cost efficiencies of

team of YouTube professionals has worked with more than


500 customers, 10,000 YouTube channels, and 2.5 million
business and brand videos. Pixabilitys complimentary
Online Video Grader (onlinevideograder.com) provides

digital advertising are leading global brand marketers to aggressively


shift media allocations, particularly to online video. Worldwide digital
ad spend is projected to reach $253 billion by 2018 (up from $145
billion in 2014); with U.S. digital video ad spend projected to rise by
30.4% this year alone, reaching $7.77 billion[1].

any organization with immediate metrics and analysis


of YouTube, web video, video search, and social video
effectiveness.
For more information, visit http://www.pixability.com/

The Pixability platform has allowed us to reach our core customers


and target new passionate soccer fans with data-driven video
campaigns that increase awareness of our new brand positioning
and bring engagement to an unprecedented level, said Hermann
Hassenstein, Global Head of Communications Planning at PUMA.
With the targeting that Pixability delivers, we are able to achieve
better results through online video in a more efficient way.

22

The capital will be used to:


- Rapidly expand Pixabilitys patent-pending ad buying and video
marketing technology platform for brands and agencies
- Expand international sales, partnerships, and business development
efforts
Budget allocation is shifting from TV to online media at a nonlinear
pace. Consumption and engagement patterns, coupled with the rise of
mobile, have placed online video on an astounding growth trajectory,
said Sach Chitnis, Managing Partner of Jump Capital. Pixability sits
at the epicenter of both brand and consumer trends in online video.
Powerful technology and deep market expertise deliver premium ad
targeting and video marketing insights, yielding an efficacy layer that
is unparalleled in the industry.
At Edison, we get excited about companies with the vision to identify
inflection points in major markets, and the expertise to drive immense
value for their customers from them, said David Nevas, Principal at
Edison Partners. Pixability brings a trifecta to the advertiser market
a sophisticated technology platform, unrivaled depth of data, and
extensive online video knowledge.
Demand from brands for media transparency, reporting accuracy,
and business attribution for online video is at an all-time high.
Pixabilitys programmatic optimization technology and ad buying
platform streamlines campaign management, and delivers superior
results against the unique business objectives of brand and agency
customers, which include LOral USA, PUMA, Viacom, Publicis
Groupe, Mindshare and Omnicoms Resolution Media.
The success of our fundraising round solidifies Pixabilitys value
proposition within the online video ad tech ecosystem, said Bettina
Hein, Founder and CEO of Pixability. Our technology proves the
business value of a data-driven video marketing strategy. We predict
online videos dominance will expand further over the next few years
as more consumers cut the cord, and more providers offer Over-TheTop services.

Pixability Executives Co-Author Definitive


Book on YouTube Strategy, Execution, and
Analytics
Pixability Press Release

| April 28, 2015

http://bit.ly/1EUtG8U

Pixability, a video ad buying and marketing technology company,


today announced the availability of YouTube Channels for Dummies,
co-authored by Pixability CMO Rob Ciampa and VP Professional
Services Theresa Moore, and part of the bestselling reference series,
For Dummies, published by Wiley. The release of the book coincides
with an inflection point in the online video market, as marketers
increasingly shift media budgets to online video.
From established global brands to young independent creators,
YouTube offers an enormous opportunity to share stories through
video, create a community, and even build a business, said Jim Habig,
YouTube Marketing Manager.
With extensive experience in the online video business both
personally and at Pixability this book builds upon a foundation of
deep video marketing expertise, insight into brand and consumer
trends in online video, and experience helping global brands leverage
YouTube as a revenue generator, said Rob Ciampa, co-author and
CMO at Pixability. The book covers everything an individual, an
MCN, brand or agency needs to know to build a measurable YouTube
strategy.
From channel creation to audience discovery, advertising,
monetization and analytics, we left no stone unturned, said Theresa
Moore, co-author and VP Professional Services at Pixability.
We distilled years of professional experience on YouTube into a
comprehensive resource that addresses every element required to
build a business on YouTube.
YouTube Channels for Dummies is available for purchase online
on Amazon and from all major booksellers in both print and e-book
formats. Wileys Video Marketing for Dummies was also co-authored
by Pixability executives CEO Bettina Hein and CTO Andreas Goeldi
and reached #2 on Amazons Web Marketing List in 2012.

23

KATHY LEAKE | Qualia CEO & Founder

Qualia Named a Finalist in the Ad Serving


Platform category in Digidays Signal
Awards
Published by DigiDay

| July 15, 2015

http://bit.ly/1gPSpkA

Qualia, formerly known as LocalResponse, an intent

Ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi and marketing analytics platform

targeting pioneer, empowers brand marketers with the

MarketShare DecisionCloud lead the pack of 2015 Digiday Signal

ability to identify and respond to real-time declarations

Awards finalists with four nods each.

of intent expressed over social media. Their IQ engine


creates a composite of multiple social signals from a

The awards, which will be presented for the first time this year, honor

consumer and overlays our targeting capabilities to reach a

the tech platforms simplifying the marketing process for brands,

marketers most qualified audience. Their technology then

agencies and publishers. In all, 85 finalists were selected from four

retargets that consumer across any or all of their devices

main categories including ad tech, commerce tech, marketing tech

(mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop) and platforms (web, app)

and content/publishing.

with any type of IAB- standard creative. In market since


2011, Qualia is led by Kathy Leake, CEO (co-founder

The Saatchi & Saatchi Facebook campaigns for 4Runner and

Media6Degrees) and Niels Meersschaert, CTO (co-founder

Camry are both up for best creative platform, while its Real World

of Magnetic) who are committed to defining the next

Conquesting campaign vies for best mobile advertising platform and

generation of Intent targeting. Qualia is headquartered

location-based app. Its work on Outsell Fuelby Outsell is up against

in NYC and has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and San

MarketShare DecisionCloud for best predictive marketing platform.

Francisco.
For additional information, visit www.qualia-media.com.

MarketShare is also recognized in Cloud Platforms, Attribution


Solutions, and Marketing Automation Platforms & Modeling
Solutions. In Ad Serving Platforms, the finalists are Qualia, OwnerIQ:
Retailer Targeted Marketing, Viant Advertising Cloud, and 33Across
Real Platform.

24

Other finalists included Salesforce Marketing Cloud, AdTheorent,


Oracle, and Grapeshot. In all, 85 companies were recognized with
finalist entries.
Judges will select the winning platforms based on their innovation
and effectiveness, and awards will be presented at a reception on
September 24, 2015.

25

RODNEY WILLIAMS | LISNR CEO & Founder

CNBC Names LISNR a Top 50 Digital


Disruptor
LISNR Press Release | May 12, 2015
http://bit.ly/1yZbiaq (exerpt)

CNBC today announced that LISNR, provider of the Smart Tones


LISNR is a mobile application that enhances experiences

data-over-audio communications standard, was named to the 2015

by uniquely engaging fans while their experiencing the

CNBC Disruptor 50, a global list of companies whose innovations are

things that they love. LISNR turns audio into an interactive


platform, delivering mobile experiences to smartphones

disrupting industries around the world. Other notable companies on


the list were Airbnb, Uber and SpaceX.

based on LISNR enabled audio in the surrounding

LISNR Co-founder and CEO Rodney Williams will appear on CNBCs

environment. Currently, LISNR provides musicians with a

Squawk Box on Wednesday, May 13 at 6:50 a.m. ET to talk about the

new way to engage with their fans and provides advertisers

company and its Smart Tones technology.

a new way to partner with musicians through their music.


In just over a year, LISNR has secured game changing
programs for the nations top CPG, music, and media
entities.
For more information, visit http://lisnr.com/

LISNRs Smart Tones technology is poised to be the dominant datacommunications standard for a wide range of mobile needs, either in
tandem with or in place of the ubiquitous Bluetooth standard, said
Williams. And while we have enjoyed many major milestones in our
brief history, having CNBC recognize our success and potential for
the future is right up there as the most satisfying.
LISNRs Smart Tones technology is a new communications protocol
that sends data over inaudible sound waves, turning any audio speaker
into a beacon that is easily heard by virtually every mobile device
manufactured today. There is a wide range of uses for Smart Tones,
including real-time and hyper-local customer engagement, consumer

26

analytics, user authentication, peer-to-peer communication and

time that artist is coming into town.

managing connected devices in the Internet of things.

But the technology has evolved. Lisnr joined an accelerator run by


Techstars and ad agency R/GA to build out the technology to be used

Unlike other wireless data communications or second-screen

as a wireless means of transferring data using nothing but sound tones

standards, such as Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), Bluetooth

that cant be picked up by the human ear.

or Near Field Communications (NFC), LISNR requires no new

That can mean anything from showing instant replays on a mobile

hardware or costly local implementations, and brings added benefits

device truly instantaneously whether the viewer is at the ballpark or

such as minimal power consumption, enhanced data sharing and

watching on TV using just inaudible tones picked up by a smartphone

pairing, device neutrality and flexibility.

to withdrawing money from an ATM without ever touching the


machine by having a smartphone communicate with it through the

To build the digital disruptor list, CNBC collected 400 nominations

tones.

from the public, technology industry experts and the National

Lisnr CEO Rodney Williams initially approached Allen to sit on his

Venture Capital Association. The final CNBC Disruptor 50 selections

companys board. The more they talked, the more enticing coming to

were made based on an analysis of both quantitative criteria, such as

work for Lisnr became, Allen told me.

the amount of venture capital raised, sales and user-growth metrics,

As I started talking more and more to Rodney and walking through

and qualitative criteria, such as originality, scalability and creating a

the challenges he was facing, I had this mental checklist he was

new market or ecosystem.

ticking off where Id be able to help and I thought they were really well
positioned to where the industry was going and ultimately replace or

LISNR Lures Exec from one of Americas


Largest Music Tech Firms

be a threat to Gracenote in the future, he said.


Allen comes from an engineering and development background with
management experience. When he took over a division at Gracenote,
he grew it from 30 employees to 1,300.

Published by Cincinnatti Business Courier | May 19, 2015


http://bit.ly/1yZbiaq (exerpt)

Williams said that experience is a boon to Lisnr.


I think Eric coming to Lisnr gives our product some validation, he

Cincinnati startup Lisnr has hired a new president who cut his teeth

told me. It says we do have something that could be just as big if not

growing one of the countrys largest music tech companies into a $250

bigger than any audio recognition or fingerprint technology thats on

million business. Eric Allen spent the last three years as an senior

the market.

vice president at Gracenote, a music tech company that counts Apple,


Spotify, Microsoft and Samsung among its customers. Gracenote
is the largest database of music and video metadata, which allows
customers to manage, search, discover and catalog music and digital
media. Allen has also held executive roles at Silicon Valley startups,

LISNR Wins Best Content Marketing


Tech Platform in 2015 Digiday Content
Marketing Awards

including Dijit, MobilQ and Gravity Mobile. Gracenote on exit was


a quarter-of-a-billion-dollar business and growing focusing on digital

LISNR Press Release | June 1, 2015

media, Allen told me. I think the opportunities are far greater than

http://bit.ly/1MW48dA

where I came from, and I think we did pretty good there.


LISNR, provider of the Smart Tones data-over-audio communications
Lisnr began as a mobile app that used proprietary inaudible sound

standard, today announced that it won Best Content Marketing

tones to unlock special content on mobile devices a musician can

Tech Platform in the 2015 Digiday Content Marketing Awards. The

embed tones in a track, and when a Lisnr-enabled phone picks up that

Digiday award comes on the heels of LISNR being named to 2015

tone, it unlocks a behind-the-scenes video or tells the user the next

CNBC Disruptor 50, a collection of the 50 most innovative companies

27

in the world.

standard for second-screen experiences, today announced that it


received the Gold Cannes Lion for Innovation in Mobile at the 2015

LISNR Smart Tones technology can turn any audio speaker into a

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Considered the

beacon capable of sending video, data and messages to any digital

Oscars of the advertising industry, the Cannes Lions brings together

devices.

the worlds top talents in advertising, design and related fields.

LISNRs Smart Tones can personalize shopping trips, transform

The Gold Cannes Lion is the latest in a string of recent accolades

events, secure networks and help devices communicate with one

for LISNR, including being named to 2015 CNBC Disruptor 50,

another, said Rodney Williams, co-founder and CEO of LISNR.

a collection of the 50 most innovative companies in the world, and

And using our intuitive content portal, which led to this great award,

being awarded as the Best Content Marketing Tech Platform in the

along with our proprietary technology and simple SDK, companies

2015 Digiday Content Marketing Awards.

can create experiences and innovations limited only by their own


imagination.

LISNR Smart Tones technology can turn any audio speaker into a
beacon capable of sending video, data and messages to any digital

Smart Tones have a wide range of uses, including real-time and hyper-

device.

local customer engagement, consumer analytics, user authentication,


peer-to-peer communication and managing connected devices in the

Every brand wants a better way to engage with consumers over mobile,

Internet of Things.

but to date efforts have largely been trial and error, with an emphasis
on error, said Rodney Williams, co-founder and CEO of LISNR.

The technology has many benefits over other common communications

Weve been showing the worlds top brands that we have a better

standards like Bluetooth, Beacons, Automatic Content Recognition

way to engage, one that allows brands to be incredibly creative and

(ACR) and Near Field Communications (NFC). Of note, it uses far

innovative not just to repackage their existing ads and promotions

less power, requires no costly new hardware or implementations, has

for a smaller screen. To receive the Cannes Lion for Innovation in

greater range, is completely device-agnostic and has a more favorable

Mobile reflects our success in just a couple short years.

cost structure.
Smart Tones technology has many benefits over other common
There are hundreds of startups trying to increase engagement with

communications standards like Bluetooth, Beacons, Automatic

consumers and to make devices even more critical to our day to day

Content Recognition (ACR) and Near Field Communications (NFC).

experiences, added Williams. Winning the Digiday Best Content

Of note, Smart Tones uses far less power, requires no costly new

Marketing Tech Platform is further validation that we have the right

hardware or implementations, has greater range, is completely device-

approach, and that we have the best underlying technology for this

agnostic and has a more favorable cost structure.

mission.
There are hundreds of startups trying to increase mobile engagement

LISNR Second-Screen Technology Wins


2015 Gold Cannes Lion for Innovation in
Mobile

but to date brands have struggled to find the right technology


infrastructure, added Williams. With LISNR, the infrastructure is
already there brands just have to bring their creativity.
In addition to helping brands with hyper-local and real-time customer

LISNR Press Release | June 23, 2015

engagement, LISNR Smart Tones use cases include user authentication,

http://bit.ly/1eXR7SU

peer-to-peer communication and managing connected devices in the


Internet of Things.

LISNR, provider of the Smart Tones data-over-audio communications

28

Cincinnati company poised for more


growth with big award, additional founder
on board
LISNR Press Release | June 30, 2015
http://bit.ly/1DvCUsa

A funny thing happened to LISNR co-founders Rodney Williams and


Chris Ostoich.
They went to Cannes, France, to take part in a boot camp to help grow
their company, and they came home with a Gold Lion, a top honor
at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Its like winning an Oscar if youre an actor, said Ostoich who is now
working full-time as LISNRs head of marketing. Its sort of like that
for creatives and marketers.
It was also a heck of a way for Ostoich to start his first week as a fulltime employee of LISNR, a downtown-based startup with technology
that uses inaudible sound waves to link devices. It works like the
better-known Bluetooth, except Bluetooth uses radio waves.
Ostoich and Williams were among five founders who conceived of
LISNR in March 2012, riding on Cincinnatis Startup Bus going to
South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. Until last week, Ostoich served
as an advisor to LISNR and was working full-time at Blackbook HR,
a human relations technology company that Ostoich founded seven
years ago.

29

FIELD GARTHWAITE | IRIS.TV CEO & Co-Founder

Iris.tv Raises $5.3 Million to Deliver Video


Recommendations
Wall Street Journal

| June 17, 2015

http://on.wsj.com/1gEeeD3

IRIS.TV Inc is a video recommendation engine that


allows video publishers and content owners to generate

A Los Angeles startup called Iris.tv has raised $5.3 million in


Series A funding for technology that makes personalized video
recommendations to viewers who watch short clips online.

more video views in a continuous playback experience.


The software is designed to increase revenue and simplify
operations for web and mobile video distribution,
matching content based on audience preferences and
user interactions. The companys core product Adaptive

The startups customers are lifestyle, entertainment, sports and news


organizations that own and publish a lot of short videos online, and
who want to drive audiences to watch more videos through their own
apps or websites rather than on YouTube or Facebook.

Stream(TM) delivers relevant content in a television-like

Publishers or networks can generate more revenue from videos viewed

experience, personalized to each viewers interests.

through their own apps, potentially, said Iris.tv CEO Field Garthwaite,

For more information, visit www.iris.tv

in part because there are fewer distractions there than on social media
platforms.
If users do fast-forward past one clip to see another using Iris.tv,
the next recommended clip will be a video from the same content
company that is tailored around their interests.
Investors in Iris.tvs funding round included Sierra Wasatch, BDMI,
Progress Ventures and individual backers including Machinima
founder Allen DeBevoise, Lions Gate CFO James Barge as well as
executives from Nielsen and AEG.

30

Another aspect of Iris.tv that helps video publishers make more


money from their library of clips is data, said investor and Lions Gate
CFO James Barge.
The technology gives users information for any given programming,
such as bounce rate, initial views and total views of a particular clip.
The trends it detects can help a company guide the development of
new video content or inform it to put an old video from the archives
back into circulation online if it has become newly interesting to
audiences.
Mr. Barge said investors expect the company to use funding to hire,
develop new features and continue getting involved behind the
scenes with major media companies to help them make video a more
profitable part of their whole business.

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