Online advertising-management provider Marin Software has acquired retargeting platform Perfect Audience for $22.8 million.
The deal adds to Marin’s social media and display advertising retargeting arsenal and to the flurry of funding rounds, IPOs and acquisitions in the retargeting space over the past year.
San Francisco-based Perfect Audience was founded under the Y Combinator seed accelerator program in 2012 and quickly followed up with a $1.1 million funding round that year.
Perfect Audience’s core product has supported retargeting campaigns on Facebook Exchange, and support has been added for Google DoubleClick, Twitter and other ad exchanges. The company targeted startups and small ad agencies as customers, a market it said was underserved by enterprise-focused retargeting platforms.
Marin said in a statement the deal “expands its cross-channel capabilities, adding new programmatic display and social advertising functions while strengthening its audience targeting tools. Real-time search intent data will be combined with behavioral and other data sources to drive audience buying and retargeting across Facebook, Twitter, mobile and other display ad placements.”
The retargeting industry has been the focus of a consolidation push recently.
Paris-based Criteo hauled in $251 million with an IPO last October, and went on to purchase email retargeting platform Tedemis for $29 million in April. Also in April, Tesco/Dunnhumby gobbled up Berlin-based retargeting firm Sociomantic for a rumored $175 million to $200 million. That same month, AdRoll, of San Francisco, closed $70 million in funding, and said it will continue pursuing acquisitions as it doubles its service and support efforts for enterprise customers.
Marin recently announced David Yovanno, previously president of technology solutions at Conversant, as CEO to replace founder Chris Lien, who became executive chairman.
The company reported solid revenue growth for Q4 2014, with year-over-year sales increasing 33% to $22.8 million. 2014 full-year revenue was projected at $96.8 million-$98 million. The company expects to lose $28 million this year, with cash on hand of $96.13 million.
