[February 2016]
MMC leads 6million USD Series B round for Admedo
MMC Ventures, the award-winning venture capital fund, has led a Series B funding round into Admedo ( www.admedo.com ) , aiming to bring greater transparency to the programmatic advertising industry. Founded in 2013 by online advertising experts Nick Moutter and Laura Bowen, Admedo’s technology is democratising a complex programmatic marketplace with transparency, simplicity and customisation.
Programmatic advertising – the data-led, automated buying and selling of online advertising – has been a growing force in the marketing industry in recent years. According to the Internet Advertising Bureau UK, almost half of online display ads in 2014, worth just under £1 billion, were bought through programmatic technologies. Yet, this spend can prove difficult to track, and – with the exception of big brands working with large agencies – many organisations still struggle to access the most effective tools. Admedo’s proprietary Demand Side Platform levels the playing field and was built specifically with simplicity and transparency in mind.
Once again, CloudOrigin provided technology and operational due diligence to MMC for this investment.
“The MadTech solutions arena for the Marketing and Advertising industry is amongst the most interesting and fast moving technology sectors and we have had the pleasure to review many of these creative startups across Europe. Admedo is a great example bringing enterprise features to a broader market segment and creating a new niche with great growth potential driven by continuous technology progression” commented Richard Hall, CloudOrigin CEO who led the due diligence exercise.
The funding, which sees MMC Ventures join existing investors Sussex Place Ventures and some high profile names in the online world, will be used to continue Admedo’s international expansion plans. The fast-growing business already has offices in London, New York, Los Angeles, Berlin and Paris, and in the coming months will be adding a new Dubai office to their global offering.
Nick Moutter, CEO and Co-Founder of Admedo, said: “The world of programmatic still has a long way to go and is suffering from frustrations of many, around lack of transparency, margins and ease of use. This is precisely why Admedo was created – to ensure absolute clarity and to give the power back to the advertisers by lifting the lid on this proverbial black box”
“The growth we’ve experienced at Admedo in recent years has been fantastic, particularly in the UK and US. The next few years will see us take the business on a new growth journey, and we’re looking forward to working with MMC Ventures and Sussex Place Ventures.”
Simon Menashy, Investment Director, MMC Ventures, said: “We’ve been watching programmatic advertising’s explosive growth with interest, but so far most of the benefits have gone to the same established players in the ad world. Nick, Laura and their team are making a big impact in the industry by trying to change this, opening up the latest capabilities to everyone and bringing some much needed transparency by allowing clients to truly track the return on their advertising spend. It’s no surprise that Admedo has grown impressively as a result, and we’re looking forward to working with the team to get to the next level of scale.”
About MMC Ventures
Founded in 2000, MMC Ventures is an active investor and award-winning venture capital fund, focused on technology-enabled sectors where the UK is a world leader – particularly financial and business services, business software, digital media and e-commerce. With over £150 million under management, and investing circa £20 million annually, MMC was ranked as one of most active early-stage UK investors for 2012, 2013,2014 and H1 2015.
MMC’s existing portfolio includes Appear Here, Bloom & Wild, Gousto, Growth Intelligence, Interactive Investor, Love Home Swap, Masabi, NewVoiceMedia, Pact, Reevoo, Safeguard, Sky-Futures, Small World, Somo, and Tyres on the Drive.