Video platform Connatix raised $15 million in growth equity from Volition Capital on Tuesday.
The company had previously raised an undisclosed seed round, and it claims it is profitable.
Connatix will use the funding for product development, to beef up sales and marketing and to fuel US expansion. After it penetrates the US market, Connatix hopes to expand into Europe, said CEO David Kashak.
Connatix helps publishers like Mashable and Dow Jones Media Group monetize newer video ad formats like vertical, interactive, 360-degree and live video.
It works both with publishers who own video content and want to expand beyond their O&O or Facebook and YouTube, as well as with publishers that don’t create their own content and simply want to syndicate more video.
Most of Connatix’s business comes via managed services, but it also offers a self-serve platform for managing and distributing video content.
Video is hard to monetize, Kashak said, because it first needs to be developed or licensed and the video player tech and ad server must be secured. “It can take months to implement or to get to a point where users are engaging with it at scale or they’re able to monetize it,” he added.
“Our technology figures out what would be the best way to monetize each impression, whether through a native video ad or with content and a traditional pre-roll,” Kashak said.
Connatix also hopes to increase the fill rate around native video demand, which Kashak predicts will eventually scale as more native exchanges add programmatic demand partners.
Publishers like IDG UK use Connatix to increase video revenue while meeting demands around user experience.
The publisher needed video units that promote viewability without obstructing editorial content, according to Simon Jary, publishing director and GM of IDG UK.
“Connatix has helped us increase video fill and yield,” he said, while “massively outperforming existing outstream partners.”
