Ad verification company DoubleVerify clinched a $350 million investment deal Wednesday that will be used to buy out existing shareholders and help fuel its growth ahead of a reported initial public offering next year.
The backing from a new investor group led by Tiger Global Management – which includes the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, as well as Fidelity and Neuberger Berman – comes as the brand safety specialist continues to invest in new growth areas, including media performance optimization and connected TV analytics.
“The support of these high caliber investors speaks to DoubleVerify’s momentum, including new customer growth, product innovation and global expansion,” DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski, who joined the company in July, said in a statement.
Bloomberg reported this month that DoubleVerify – which was founded in 2008 and tracks digital media engagement – has selected banks ahead of an IPO that could come in the first half of 2021, and the investment deal could potentially bolster its value proposition.
DoubleVerify declined to provide additional comment on the funding announcement.
Tiger Global, a New York-based investment firm, has also funded companies such as Spotify, Harry’s, Warby Parker, Peloton, JD.com, Facebook and LinkedIn. Most of the DoubleVerify funding will be used to purchase shares from existing shareholders, while a portion will be earmarked to support continued business growth.
Providence Equity Partners, which invested in DoubleVerify in 2017, remains the majority investor. According to Crunchbase, DoubleVerify has nearly $400 million in total funding over six rounds, including the latest capital influx.
The new investment round is expected to close in Q4 of 2020. Earlier this month, DoubleVerify also refinanced its credit facility and entered into a new $150 million revolving credit facility.
“We look forward to partnering with Mark and the entire DoubleVerify management team as the company continues the growth of its business globally,” John Curtius, a Tiger Global partner, said in a statement.
DoubleVerify’s technology is designed to measure digital media quality and performance across mobile, desktop and video, including the walled gardens of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest and other social media. The company helps advertisers check if an ad has actually been seen by a real person and not a bot and if the ads appear in the intended geography. It also filters out hate speech and disinformation, ensuring ads are served in the appropriate environments.
DoubleVerify is busy digesting new assets after a yearlong acquisition spree, buying Ad-Juster, Leiki and the video measurement tech Zentrick in 2019. The company is in a very competitive category of ad verification and measurement providers, along with Integral Ad Science, Oracle Data Cloud’s Moat and White Ops.
The funding comes as the lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic fuel a surge in social media use and content consumption across numerous platforms. According to a report released by DoubleVerify last month, on average, consumers have doubled the amount of time they spend each day consuming content.
Additionally, the lockdown accelerated an appetite for CTV, a growing focus for the company over the past year. According to the report, research from earlier this year indicated a 46% year-over-year increase in CTV ad budgets, which are expected to rise.
In January, DoubleVerify introduced a CTV fraud and invalid traffic detection service for DSPs to certify programmatic ads that display on TV screens.
