Metamarkets has raised $14.25 million in growth capital from Wellington Financial and City National Bank.
The company’s analytics software is designed to help clients like Twitter, Nanigans, AOL, OpenX and Drawbridge gain insight into their programmatic marketplaces.
Metamarkets got the funding in part because investors are looking more favorably at ad tech, said company co-founder and CEO Mike Driscoll.
“When people saw the S-1 for The Trade Desk, that was a powerful indicator of a robust business. There are a lot of data points of late that have boosted investor confidence,” Driscoll said.
Metamarkets isn’t the only beneficiary of this renewed confidence. M&A activity has picked up, with companies like Krux, HookLogic and Triad Retail Media being acquired, and ad tech companies like Datorama and TapFwd have secured funding.
“We are seeing an influx of capital into businesses that are independent and separate from the walled garden,” Driscoll said. “That is driven by CMOs looking for independent software providers to properly hold media channels accountable.”
Metamarkets, founded in 2010, raised a $15 million Series C last year and has raised $43.5 million in total. Last year it doubled its run rate. According to this year’s Inc. revenue survey, Metamarkets posted 2015 revenue of $10.2 million, reflecting a three-year growth rate of 1,052%.
Metamarkets chose a loan, not venture capital financing, because it wouldn’t have to give up equity, Driscoll said. “When you get to a stage of maturity, it makes sense to look at nondilutive capital channels,” he said.
No investors took money off the table in this round.
Driscoll said Metamarkets plans to use the funds in order to sign long-term contracts with its cloud infrastructure providers on more advantageous terms, which will be key to reducing costs.
“Metamarkets spends more on our server infrastructure than our people,” Driscoll said. Programmatic advertising marketplaces generate massive amounts of data, which requires extensive computing power.
Reducing computing costs will also help Metamarkets as it pursues a new line of business. As of a month ago, companies can tap into Metamarkets’ data through its API and build their own custom dashboard around it. Before, their only choice was to buy Metamarkets’ software to access the data or build it on their own.
“From a sales perspective, [Metamarkets] has always been a build-or-buy decision,” Driscoll said. “The API allows clients to build and buy. They can buy the dashboard, and build their custom apps on top of all the signals being deposited.”
Nanigans, for example, recently replaced an internal system with one powered by Metamarkets’ API.
With the funding to power cloud infrastructure, as well as the introduction of the API, Metamarkets expects business to continue to grow – and maybe even go into the black.
“We are very close to profitable as a company,” Driscoll said, “and our target is to stay near profitability in the long term.”
