Boulder-based Sovrn announced today that it has secured at least $25 million in funding to fuel the continued growth and diversification of its adtech platform. The round was led by Foundry Group with participation from existing investors Archer Venture Acquisitions, Lexington Partners and Oak Investment Partners, bringing the company’s overall funding to more than $53 million.
Sovrn — which helps independent publishers and content creators grow their audiences, engage their readers and monetize their content with its suite of advertising and analytics tools — will use the new funds to fuel product expansion through both acquisitions and internal product development.
“We’re proud to secure such a significant new investment and endorsement from a very sophisticated group of investors,” said CEO Walter Knapp in a statement. “So much good work has been done in the media industry to provide products, tools and services for content creators; however, what has been lacking is a platform of infrastructure and data to tie all these solutions together in a cohesive manner. We now have the financial firepower to continue to acquire, build and merge multiple products and services onto the Sovrn platform.”
We now have the financial firepower to continue to acquire, build and merge multiple products and services onto the Sovrn platform.”
The company is already in talks with several businesses whose products complement Sovrn’s existing platform and services. Though no specific deals have yet been announced, the company’s CEO has hinted that Sovrn will look to expand its offerings beyond adtech.
The goal is to broaden Sovrn’s platform to encompass five unique categories of publisher tools: content creation, content distribution, monetization, operations and capital.
While advertising is an important piece of the puzzle, it’s becoming less and less of a revenue driver for Sovrn. In addition to its advertising tools, the company also offers consulting and outsourced ad ops services; monetization, user engagement and data analytics tools; as well as an in-house lending service that enables publishers to get paid for their outstanding invoices without having to wait around for their vendors to pay up.
The company currently works with more than 25,000 independent websites worldwide and employs around 130 people in its Boulder office, with about 50 more sitting in its London and New York City offices. The new funding will fuel hiring growth across all functions, but particularly on its development team.
