Home The Big Story The Big Story: Unicorns Everywhere

The Big Story: Unicorns Everywhere

SHARE:
The Big Story podcast

Late last year, with the end of the pandemic hopefully in sight, Luma was beginning to see investor confidence return.

If anything, that cautious optimism was understated, as this Spring, Luma saw the best quarter in deals that it had ever seen.

This week on The Big Story, we welcome back Conor McKenna, Luma director (not VP, as we misstated in the podcast), to talk about the wild influx of early 2021 deal making that saw seven transactions of more than $1 billion.

Even Luma, despite its optimism, was taken aback.

“Frankly, the seven transactions that happened – and two were for IPOs that were filed and aren’t out – that was surprising,” McKenna says. “You talk about unicorns in ad tech, we’ve had as many in Q1 as we’ve had in the last ten years. And it’s driven by a lot of things lining up.”

In this episode, we’ll delve into the macro, industry and market trends that created the “perfect storm” for ad tech valuations.

But to what extent is all this sustainable? And will the influx of freshly-minted public ad tech companies make ad tech the new strategic acquirers of ad tech? (A prophesy that’s already born out with Magnite using its soaring stock price to fund its SpotX acquisition).

Most importantly: Do Luma executives get veto power over Terry Kawaja’s costume decisions?

Must Read

Chris Mufarrige, director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC

FTC Consumer Protection Chief: No Easy Answers On Privacy, ‘Only Trade-Offs’

Privacy isn’t black-and-white, says the FTC’s Chris Mufarrige, promising evidence-driven consumer protection cases under the Trump administration.

How Encryption Keys Could Resolve The TID Furor

Rather than sharing universal TIDs that any DSP or curator can access, Raptive says publishers should instead share encrypted TIDs with an encryption key provided only to trusted demand-side partners.

Clear Channel Brings Mid-Flight Measurement To Its OOH Network

Clear Channel will provide advertisers weekly, mid-flight reports on outcomes driven by its inventory in order to bring OOH measurement closer to the speed of digital.

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters
FTC Commissioner Mark Meador speaking at the NAD's annual conference in Washington, DC on Sept. 16, 2025. (Photo: Brian O'Doherty)

FTC Commissioner Mark Meador: ‘No Human Society Can Long Survive Without Consumer Trust’

Keeping American kids safe in what FTC Commissioner Mark Meador calls “an increasingly complex and fast-paced technological environment” is a top priority for the agency.

Comic: "Deal ID, please."

Amazon Expands Its Programmatic Integration With SiriusXM

On Tuesday, Amazon DSP announced an expanded integration with satellite radio company SiriusXM.

Rembrand merges with Spaceback

Omar Tawakol Is Merging His AI Startup Rembrand With Spaceback

Rembrand announced that it’s merging with creative automation startup Spaceback to build a unified AI-powered platform for “content-based” CTV, digital video and display.