Adify raises $19 Mn for Vertical Ad network market

Televisionpoint.com Correspondent
Adify Corporation, the leading provider of technology and services that power online vertical advertising networks, has announced that it has secured $19 million in Series B financing led by US Venture Partners (USVP). The round includes previous investor Venrock Associates, and strategic financing from GE Media, Communications and Entertainment (a unit of GE Commercial Finance), NBC Universal, Inc. and Time Warner Investments. Adify raised an $8.25 million Series A round last year.

Adify's unique Build Your Own Network (BYON) offering has quickly become a powerful tool for traditional media companies seeking to expand their advertising offerings and to extend their brands in the evolving Web 2.0 publishing environment. Global Media 1,000 partners such as Time Warner, The Washington Post Company and Reed Business Information are able to increase their reach and grow their revenue by using Adify to aggregate niche, high-quality content sites and create customized, vertical ad networks.

For example, Adify is working with Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive (WPNI) to power its Sponsored Blogroll program. Combining ad space from washingtonpost.com and high-quality, independent bloggers, Sponsored Blogroll enables marketers to reach a broad audience across the Web in a single buy. Major national advertisers such as Marriott and Lufthansa have signed on as sponsors for the travel blog section of the network.

Since launching at the Web 2.0 Conference last November, Adify has provided the technology, services and industry know-how needed to create dozens of custom advertising networks. Adify was recently recognized as a leader in helping advertisers target specific market niches on the Web when it was named to Business 2.0's Next Net 25 list of the next hot Internet companies.

"We recognize that vertical networks – networks that combine content from or across a complementary group of web properties – are the next logical evolution for publishers seeking to expand their advertising solutions for customers," said Beth Comstock, President, Integrated Media, NBC Universal. "They are quickly becoming an important way to develop scale for our marketing clients."

"Adify's unique technology provides innovative monetization opportunities for online publishers," said Rachel Lam, SVP and Group Managing Director of Time Warner Investments. "As the market for online advertising grows, existing media companies are seeking to extend the power of their brands to bring in targeted, smaller brands under the same umbrella. Adify's technology empowers media companies to more easily reach niche, vertical audiences, while also giving smaller publishers the ability to leverage the name and brand of their more well-known partners."

"Vertical advertising is the predominant model in other media channels, and advertisers are driving to extend this paradigm to the online world. Adify is well positioned to bring the same level of audience segmentation to the Web, In short order, Adify has built an impressive list of partners and networks, reaching highly-targeted consumers on thousands of quality web properties that make up the long tail of the Internet." said Tim Connors, general partner, USVP.

"Brand advertisers need an effective way to reach fragmented audiences on highly-targeted content sites and vertical ad networks fill this need. Adify's recent financing, as well as our partnerships with top media companies such as Time Warner and WPNI, validates our leadership in enabling vertical networks, Our mission is to provide all of the technology and services required to manage every facet of a vertically-focused ad network – from inventory management and pricing to ad serving and reporting – giving network builders a turnkey platform for developing a sustainable, long-term advertising model." said Russ Fradin, Adify CEO and co-founder.