SpotXchange Accelerates Growth with $12 Million in FundingAdditional Funds Used to Continue Investment in Technology, Expand Internationally
DENVER, CO – December 15, 2010 – SpotXchange, Inc., the fastest-growing global online video advertising network, announced today it closed a $12 million financing round from H.I.G. Growth Partners.
This capital raise is the company’s first institutional round of financing. SpotXchange, which reached profitability at the beginning of 2010, has consistently been ranked as a comScore top five video ad network in the U.S. and the number one video ad network in several countries outside of the U.S., including Canada and the U.K. The proceeds from this funding round will be used to further develop SpotXchange’s video advertising network solution and to expand its international presence.
“The video ad network market is exploding, and SpotXchange is prepared to build upon its success and lead the market globally,” said John Kim, Managing Director of H.I.G. Growth Partners. “SpotXchange’s rapid expansion to date is indicative of the tremendous value the company provides to publishers and advertisers. Its technology is one of the most comprehensive and robust we’ve seen in the video ad market, and it has a burgeoning international presence. This investment will enable SpotXchange to continue its aggressive development and maintain its technological edge into the future.”
SpotXchange’s new funding will help expand its video advertising platform and will solidify the company’s position as the world’s largest marketplace of integrated, in-stream video ad inventory. SpotXchange’s auction-based platform, combined with its proprietary viewership data and targeting technology, helps advertisers achieve the most efficient media spend for video campaigns.
By leveraging the largest set of cross-platform data on video viewership in the world, SpotXchange places video ads in front of the specific audiences most likely to interact with and watch a given ad longer – all in real-time and on a per-impression basis. Serving ads in this manner leads to a significant lift in the metrics that brands care about such as optimized targeting, reach and control – benefits that direct site and other network buys cannot match. SpotXchange publishers benefit from the company’s ability to maximize the value of their inventory by making every impression competitive among a large group of major brand advertisers, demand side platforms and ad networks that use SpotXchange’s real-time bidding API.
“While we’ve achieved significant progress and profitability without institutional funding, this investment from H.I.G. will enable us to aggressively invest for even more success,” said Michael Shehan, founder and CEO of SpotXchange. “We plan to open several international offices in the next year and significantly add to our current media sales team. In addition to growth capital, H.I.G.’s experience in the digital media world will provide us with strategic guidance during our continued expansion.”
John Kim and Nik Shah of H.I.G. Growth Partners will join SpotXchange’s Board of Directors.
About H.I.G. Growth Partners
H.I.G. Growth Partners is the dedicated growth capital investment affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, a leading global private equity investment firm with over $8.5 billion of capital under management. H.I.G. Growth Partners seeks to make both majority and minority investments in strong, growth oriented businesses located throughout North America and Europe. H.I.G. Growth Partners considers investments across all industries, but focuses on certain high-growth sectors where H.I.G. has extensive in-house expertise such as technology, internet and media, healthcare, consumer products and technology-enabled financial and business services. The H.I.G. family of funds includes private equity, growth equity, venture capital, distressed debt, real estate and public equities. H.I.G. has U.S. offices in Atlanta, Boston, Miami, New York and San Francisco as well as European offices in London, Paris and Hamburg. For more information please visit www.HIGgrowth.com or www.hig.com
About SpotXchange
SpotXchange is the fastest-growing online video advertising network, offering brand advertisers a scalable, efficient and measurable way to attract new customers with high-quality online video ads on premium websites around the world. Focused on performance, SpotXchange is a one-stop shop for advertisers, ad networks, DSPs, trading desks and publishers, offering a simple, automated way to increase the effectiveness of their video ad campaigns. Each month, more than 200 major brand advertisers take advantage of SpotXchange’s offering of advanced targeting and retargeting tools, real-time bidding, dynamic ad optimization, flexible pricing models (cost per: thousand, click, completed view, engagement and acquisition) in a verified, brand-safe marketplace. Currently, SpotXchange is the #3 online video ad network in the United States, and #1 in the UK and Canada according to comScore’s VideoMetrix service.