Seedtag, the leader in contextual advertising in EMEA and LATAM, has announced today that it has secured $40m in Series B funding. Led by Oakley Capital, the funding round - which was also participated in by Adara Ventures and All Iron Ventures - follows on from the $5.2m raise in Seedtag’s Series A funding round in 2017.
Oakley Capital is a leading mid-market growth equity investor in Europe with more than 4B$ under management and an outstanding track record taking market leaders to the next level.
Seedtag aims to continue moving forward in its mission to be the global contextual advertising partner for brands and agencies. Already the leader in contextual advertising in EMEA and LATAM, the company intends to use the raised funds to now expand into the US market and continue investing in its contextual AI technology. LionTree acted as an exclusive financial advisor to Seedtag shareholders in a bilateral deal with Oakley.
The advertising industry is undergoing a significant change in terms of targeting audiences. In the next few years, it is expected that brands will no longer be able to leverage third-party cookies to reach target audiences. As a result, many are struggling to find reliable alternatives that help them to understand consumer interests while targeting priority audiences.
Without the use of cookies, Seedtag is best positioned to provide a deep understanding of consumers' interests, build a contextual strategy based on data and gather a range of insights that can help brands improve their results.
Seedtag achieved significant growth in 2020 following further development and improvement of product capabilities. The organisation produced organic year-on-year growth of 25% even under COVID-19 impact, reaching revenues of $50m in 2020, and with a further 60% growth forecast for 2021 ($80 million).
Seedtag has increased its employee headcount by 65% since last year and is now operating with 215 employees globally. The organisation’s advertising solutions are reaching audiences of over 500 million unique users. In 7 years, Seedtag has delivered over 20,000 campaigns, earning the trust of more than 3,000 Publishers and 2,000 Advertisers.
Earlier this year, Seedtag announced the appointment of three new members of its leadership team, as well as the acquisition of German contextual advertising specialist, Recognified, and Italian competitor AtomikAd in late Q4 2020. The organisation is also preparing to expand its activities into the US market, following its successes in EMEA and LATAM.
Following the Series B funding round, Peter Dubens who is a Managing Partner at Oakley Capital, made the following statement: “Oakley’s investment in Seedtag demonstrates our continuing ability to source proprietary deals from across our network and in attractive sectors. An increasing focus on consumer privacy and brand safety is driving growth in contextual advertising, and we believe Seedtag is well-placed to harness this exciting opportunity thanks to a combination of best-in-class technology, strong commercial relationships and an impressive management team.”
Albert Nieto, co-CEO of Seedtag, said: “Oakley’s investment reinforces our strategy to create a worldwide leader in contextual advertising. We are looking forward to offering US brands and publishers our contextual solutions.”
Jorge Poyatos, co-CEO of Seedtag, said: “Oakley’s expertise in growth, technology and media made them the best partner to boost Seedtag AI technology on a global scale. Together we are fully committed to offer best-in-class advertising in a privacy first world.”