Publisher yield optimization company, PubMatic, announced a $7.5 million Series C investment round led by existing investor Helion Venture Partners. Read the release.
CEO Rajeev Goel discussed the funding and plans for the company.
AdExchanger.com: Can you talk a bit more about how your platform will manage both direct and non-guaranteed inventory? Why the move here?
RG: The PubMatic Premier platform isn’t really a move in a new direction, but more of a natural expansion of offerings that we’ve been working on for a long time – and helping publishers manage their inventory is just a part of it. We have been helping publishers better manage and monetize their non-guaranteed revenue since 2006, but now we’re also giving publishers the opportunity to manage and better monetize their guaranteed inventory.
We’ve also built out the most comprehensive suite of publisher focused brand control products on the market. This includes RTB brand control too, which we’ve had for 15 months.
In fact, we’re hosting a private event next month at the Helen Mills Theater in NYC to showcase those brand control products. So PubMatic’s Premier platform is not just about managing guaranteed and non-guaranteed inventory, it’s truly about giving publishers more revenue and more control.
How does the revenue model work for direct inventory management? (a license, % of CPM, etc.) Can publishers work with PubMatic on direct channel management only?
In terms of revenue it is similar to our core offering, we charge publishers based on the value of media that we manage. In terms of how publishers use guaranteed channel management, it really depends on the individual publisher needs.
With “700% growth in revenue,” where does PubMatic shake out with profitability today? Is that a 2010 goal or in the future?
No doubt we’re experiencing tremendous momentum on many levels, but we’re not taking our eye off the ball. We’re about building a strong company that helps premium publishers manage and monetize their ad inventory. We’re 100% focused on being the best at that, which means continue building out the best team in the business and continuing to be the leader in innovation for this space.
By John Ebbert
