PALO ALTO, Calif.--()--Auditude (www.auditude.com), a fast-growing advertising technology provider for IP video, today announced that it has raised $11 million in Series B financing. Granite Ventures led the round and is joined by new investor Silicon Valley Bank as well as existing investors Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures. Jeremy Helfand, former president of United Online Media Group and Advertising.com senior executive, joins Auditude as chief executive officer.
“The key challenges for content owners, publishers and advertisers are managing, distributing and effectively monetizing premium video. The Auditude team has done an amazing job of building this business and we’re going to leverage the strong momentum to become the de facto monetization platform for IP-based video.”
In connection with this financing, Chris Hollenbeck, managing director at Granite Ventures, has joined Auditude’s board of directors. “I’m thrilled to join the great slate of investors in Auditude. I’ve received resoundingly positive feedback from leading content owners and websites about the strength of Auditude’s team and technology platform. The company is well positioned to be a leading force as the $100 billion TV ad market continues to shift online.”
This new capital will support the continued growth of Auditude’s industry-leading technology, including further expansion into mobile video, IP-enabled devices and premium distribution channels. The Auditude platform currently manages billions of monthly premium video impressions, with world-wide clients such as Comcast, Dailymotion, Dick Clark Productions, Fox News, Lionsgate, Major League Baseball, UK’s Channel Five, Sony Music, Starz Media, Universal Music Group, World Wrestling Entertainment, Yahoo!, and others. These clients are served by a world-class team drawn from leading technology and advertising companies such as Doubleclick/Google, OpenDNS, and RightMedia/Yahoo!
“The explosive growth and opportunity in IP-based video is unquestionable,” said Helfand. “The key challenges for content owners, publishers and advertisers are managing, distributing and effectively monetizing premium video. The Auditude team has done an amazing job of building this business and we’re going to leverage the strong momentum to become the de facto monetization platform for IP-based video.”
Prior to joining Auditude, Helfand was the president at United Online Media Group. In this role he managed all advertising and partnership revenue for United Online (Nasdaq: UNTD), including the launch of its audience platform, Adcurate. Previously, he served as senior vice president and general manager of Advertising.com, now a division of America Online, Inc. During his six years at Advertising.com, Helfand implemented revenue strategies that contributed to more than a six-fold increase in revenue. Helfand served on the Advertising.com executive committee charged with the strategic vision that eventually led to the company’s almost $500-million acquisition by AOL/Time Warner.
Helfand takes the reins from Adam Cahan, who has led Auditude as CEO for the past three and a half years, and will continue to serve as an advisor. Under Cahan’s direction, Auditude has assembled a world-class global team, attracted blue-chip customers and investors, and built an industry-leading technology platform. Cahan is moving into a new role as CEO of IntoNow, a technology startup also backed by Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures.
“I'm excited to leave Auditude in the capable hands of Jeremy, who brings the right vision and experience to guide this company and our team to continued industry leadership,” said Cahan. “With this team, technology and funding in place, Auditude is in the best position to lead the market as the worlds of television, online and mobile converge.”
About Auditude
Auditude is a video management and monetization technology provider that partners with content owners and websites to monetize their video assets. Auditude works with some of the largest names in online video including Comcast, Dailymotion, Dick Clark Productions, Fox News, Lionsgate, Major League Baseball, UK’s Channel Five, Sony Music Group, Starz Media, Universal Music Group and Yahoo!, among others. Auditude has been named one of the top private companies in America by several sources including Always On, The Hollywood Reporter and Business Insider. Auditude is based in Palo Alto with offices in Los Angeles, New York City and London. For more information, please visit us at: www.auditude.com.
About Granite Ventures
Granite Ventures has helped early-stage technology companies build solid foundations for success since 1992. Initially part of Hambrecht & Quist, Granite has been independent since 1998 and continues to leverage decades of investment and technology experience to create value for its portfolio companies. Granite manages over $1 billion in venture capital and has invested in more than 90 private companies including Digimarc, Digital Think, Internap, Siebel Systems, Sierra Wireless, Tumbleweed Communications and Vignette.
About Greylock Partners
Greylock partners with entrepreneurs to help them build market-leading businesses. Over the past 45 years the firm has worked with hundreds of companies, 150 of which have gone on to IPOs and 100 of which have gone on to profitable M&A events. Such companies include Ascend Communications, CheckFree, CipherTrust, Constant Contact, Continental Cable, Decru, Data Domain, DoubleClick, Farecast, Internet Security Systems, Ikanos, Legato, Media Metrix, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Openwave, Open Market, OutlookSoft, Polyserve, Red Hat, RightNow Technologies, Success Factors, Sun Edison, Tellabs, Trilogy and Wily Technology. Current Greylock portfolio companies include Cloudera, Data Robotics, Facebook, Groupon, Imperva, LinkedIn, Palo Alto Networks, Pandora, Picarro, Redfin, Workday and ZipCar. For more information about Greylock Partners, visit our Web site (www.greylock.com).
About Redpoint Ventures
Redpoint Ventures teams up with exceptional entrepreneurs to help build industry defining technology companies. Redpoint partners have many decades of experience and success in technology investing; combined with this foundation, the firm is able to leverage a thriving network of entrepreneurs, partners, and industry experts to accelerate building market-leading companies. Redpoint’s portfolio includes innovative start-ups like Scribd, LifeSize, Blue Kai, HomeAway, Topspin Media, Gaia, Fortinet, Answers.com, and others. Redpoint partners have also backed industry-leading companies such as MySpace, Netflix, Danger, TiVo, Juniper Networks, Foundry Networks, Ask.com, Zimbra, RightMedia, and Documentum. The firm is headquartered in Menlo Park, CA with offices in Los Angeles and Shanghai, China.
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