TORONTO, Oct. 18, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Toronto-based Vemba today announced that it has raised $6 million in series A-1 funding from Time Warner Investments and SpotX, with participation from existing investors Upfront Ventures and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments.  The funding will be used to further expand the company’s technology offering for content owners and publishers and continue rollout of the platform to the world’s largest media companies. 

Global advertising demand for premium mobile and desktop video experiences continues to increase, with advertiser budgets for video growing by nearly 70% in the last two years.*  New video formats in social, over-the-top (OTT), and on the Web require more diverse options for content owners looking to achieve broad distribution and publishers aiming to enrich the video experience for their users.

“In the current video landscape, flexibility is paramount,” said Norbert Horvath, Founder and CTO of Vemba. “It is no longer acceptable to present an offering with confined player options or advertising rules.  We built Vemba to be the most dynamic platform ever introduced to the marketplace, allowing producers and publishers to transact more easily and simplify the complex editorial and business workflows associated with legacy models.”

Vemba has created the first player-agnostic technology solution for video distribution, allowing publishers to integrate third-party video content and advertising within their preferred editorial process and existing video workflow.  Producers maintain better control of their content with Vemba, and publishers can feature original and complementary video without needing to adjust for unwieldy third-party players or advertising restrictions.  

With Vemba at the intersection of every transaction, both content owner and publisher receive real-time analytics on the performance of video and advertising, regardless of OVP, video player, ad server, or CDN.

“Too often video syndication businesses have run on an ‘honor system,’ with producers sending a feed into the atmosphere and crossing their fingers they’d get a report 30 to 60 days later telling them how their content performed,” Horvath said. “Using Vemba, all parties will have the same real-time insight into performance, allowing for continuous optimization of delivery and programming.

“With so many options for content extension in the marketplace, it’s imperative that media owners maintain close guard of their video and ensure destinations align well with their brand,” said Andrew Smith, SVP Digital Advertising Product and Solutions at Vice, a Vemba partner. “Working with Vemba enables Vice to efficiently manage all components of our strategy, from publisher selection to programming strategy and user experience.”

“Video businesses that position themselves between premium content and high-quality, brand-safe scale will continue to win the day,” said Scott Levine, Managing Director at Time Warner Investments.  “We recognize Vemba’s platform will be critical as big media companies navigate an increasingly complex video ecosystem.” 

SpotX’s investment further expands Vemba’s relationship with the video advertising platform.

“We see our publisher partners having a growing need for flexible distribution and monetization solutions that work across multiple content outlets,” said Mike Shehan, CEO at SpotX. “Combining the Vemba distribution infrastructure with SpotX’s modern ad serving solution will provide media owners with an integrated and holistic view on content, distribution, audiences and sales.” 

About Vemba
Vemba is a next generation video platform for premium publishers. The platform facilitates the distribution, discovery and monetization of video content with full control and transparency. With offices in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto. Vemba is powering video distribution for the world’s leading media companies. To learn more, visit www.vemba.com.

About Time Warner Investments

The Time Warner Investments group was founded in 2003 and focuses on investment opportunities that directly enhance Time Warner’s ability to meet specific strategic goals. These strategic goals include the delivery of new services, enhancement of an existing product, entry or expansion into a key strategic market, completion of a strategic partnership, and critical research and development.

About SpotX

SpotX is a video ad serving platform providing media owners with monetization tools for desktop, mobile and connected devices. The platform features modern ad serving and programmatic infrastructure, and other monetization tools, like solutions for OTT and outstream video ad units. SpotX gives publishers the control, transparency and actionable insights needed to understand buyer behavior, manage access and pricing, and maximize revenue. The company is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and has offices in Amsterdam, Belfast, Hamburg, London, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Stockholm, Singapore and Sydney. In October 2017, RTL Group, a leader across broadcast, content and digital, completed its 100% acquisition of SpotX.

About Upfront Ventures 

Upfront Ventures is the largest and longest-serving venture capital fund in Los Angeles, CA, having invested more than $1 billion since 1996 in companies such as Maker Studios, TrueCar and Overture.

About Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI)

Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) is a wholly owned subsidiary of the global media, services and education company Bertelsmann. As a financially driven corporate venture investor, BDMI draws upon Bertelsmann’s global reach to provide not only capital, but also access to their network of businesses within Bertelsmann and across the media industry. BDMI has invested in over 50 startups since 2007 and is currently focused on the categories of online video, ad tech, SaaS, content and e-commerce. For more information visit www.bdmifund.com.

Media Contacts:

Vemba:
Garrick Tiplady, [email protected], +1 416 508 5464
Norbert Horvath, [email protected], +1 416 315 3554

IAB Video Ad Spend Study, April 2017