Yesterday, media buying solutions company [x+1] announced that it has raised a Series B round of financing to the tune of $10 million led by Intel Capital with additional funding coming from existing investors Advanced Technology Ventures, Blue Chip Venture Company and Hudson Venture Partners. According to the release, “the funding will be used to support [x+1]’s growth initiatives centered on its digital marketing hub, which empowers multi-channel audience targeting at scale.” Read more.
[x+1] CEO John Nardone discussed the funding and company initiatives.
AdExchanger.com: Given your experience with past funding events, how did your experience in raising the new Series B round differ?
JN: Fund raising was much easier this time around. We did not have to educate potential investors about the space or the opportunity…only about our unique capabilities and position in the ecosystem.
Will Intel Capital receive a board seat?
Intel does have the right to appoint a board director.
Looking ahead, how do you see the target market evolving for [x+1] on the advertiser side?
Because [x+1] helps marketers across multi-touch points, we currently have a long-standing and highly developed direct-to-client business that spans across our digital marketing hub. This provides unique capabilities to clients by integrating their digital marketing and its decisioning across all customer channels, including display media, online video, mobile, and email. For agencies, our Media+1 Management Platform and our Virtual Audience Network provide media buying and audience solutions.
Any trends that you see from publishers and the sell-side today?
Two immediate trends come to mind. One is that publishers are stepping up in their understanding of their audiences’ performance independent of the publisher’s content. Two is that technology and devices are driving new and deeper interactions with content. Both of these trends are good for the overall marketing business
How is [x+1] approaching the acquisition of adequate supply?
We are always adding new real time inventory sources, and striking private deals when we need them. For us, real time inventory is the priority, and we are encouraged that this supply seems to be growing nicely.
Does [x+1] still identify as a demand-side platform?
Because we work so closely with clients, we align ourselves with the end-results they seek, and to do that, we provide them with a mix of advisory services, planning and execution around our audience targeting platform. We’ve always said that we aren’t a DSP, but that we have a full-fledged DSP as part of our platform solution offering.
By John Ebbert
