NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Miles Spencer, founder of Vaux les Ventures and co-founder and Chairman of Mocean Mobile which today was acquired by privately-owned PubMatic, announced today that with the acquisition, he is in negotiations with multiple TV networks to return to MoneyHunt, the original business reality TV show that appeared on PBS TV from 1996 to 2005. Concurrent to those negotiations, Spencer is also becoming Mentor and Strategic Advisor to Grand Central Tech, the midtown Manhattan tech accelerator backed by the Milstein family.
As for the acquisition of Mocean by PubMatic Spencer says, “The growth and adoption of mobile and mobile ad-tech solutions has been transformative for users and businesses, and the affects will be felt for a generation. As a leading programmatic advertising platform company for publishers, PubMatic is positioned to quickly integrate Mocean’s technology and accelerate its growth to further capitalize on the strength of its assets.”
Since conceiving of Mocean, Spencer, along with co-founders Krish Arvapally and Dan Goikhman, have built a company that now serves over 200 billion mobile ads per month— 77,000 per second—to over 1.1 billion unique devices; attracted a team of more than 100 of the best and brightest professionals in mobile ad tech; raised seed and angel capital as well as four rounds of venture capital; and now has successfully sold the firm to a global player in mobile advertising.
Spencer also announced that his angel investment fund, Vaux les Ventures, is funding four new start-up businesses: Aptaris, a SaaS company that optimizes grocery and big box retailers consumer offers; Bell Family Company, a real-time booking platform for referral only, hand selected care-givers; TrustCloud, a trust and safety scoring company for the sharing economy; and Blue & Gold LLC, the licensor of the first pain-free, child proof bottle cap.
The successful disposition of Mocean opens a new chapter in the ongoing story of MoneyHunt—the predecessor and grandfather to today’s reality business TV shows such as Shark Tank, The Profit, and Restaurant Impossible.
Says Spencer, “We invented the show before reality TV was even a term during the froth of the technology bubble and never really understood what we had created. Now the world and TV has caught up and many networks are eager to develop programming that appeals to affluent audiences of professionals and entrepreneurs eager to understand the real nature of how businesses are built—not the staged version of makeovers conducted by abusive investors or consultants. Instead, MoneyHunt will demonstrate the real sausage making behind the creative creation of innovative new companies and how mentors, teams and people play the most integral of roles in building the great companies of tomorrow. Stay tuned, you will want to experience the MoneyHunt.”