Read on MediaJobs.com

June 5, 2014 – Any product manager who knows about ad tech firms will have heard that stock values nose-dived late last year during a turbulent IPO season; but New York’s ad tech star MediaMath still managed to retain investor confidence this year and has just successfully closed a massive Series C round worth $73.5 million. It also raised its debt to $105 million. That means the total raised amounted to a thundering $178.5 million, dwarfing the $14 million Series B it raised in 2011.

Global Expansion 

Business savvy product managers might reasonably surmise that MediaMath’s prime investor (the round was led by Spring Lake Equity Partners) thinks its product offerings are a good few cuts above the competition, but it’s equally likely that investors, who still seem confident about pouring cash into ad tech firms, are in this case postponing an IPO until the stock market regains its balance after last year’s volatility.

Whatever the reasoning, MediaMath is clear about what it intends to do with the raise. Global expansion is in its sights, and it plans to support new offices in the APAC, EMEA and Latin American markets. But that’s not all: it’s also planning to channel some of the money into product development, significantly enhancing its flagship TerminalOne Marketing Operating System.

Embracing mobile

For those product managers who don’t have a clue what this technology does, it basically allows ad buyers to distribute their cash across multiple audience segments and media properties, whereupon it automatically allocates a budget to the placements that perform the best.

Founded in 2007 at the height of the desktop era, MediaMath has since been steadily adapting its business to meet the requirements of an increasingly mobile world. The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Ari Buchalter, told AdAge in April that mobile now makes up between ten and twenty percent of MediaMath’s business. And it’s clear that it’s serious about capitalizing on the boom in mobile consumption; it’s willing to spend to consolidate its mobile position, having bought the cookie-free, cross-device targeting tech firm Tactads in April this year.

Commenting on the Series D round, Spring Lake equity Partner spokesman Dan Mackeigan said:

We have been looking to back a leader in the digital marketing space for quite some time. We are excited to support the company through this next phase of growth.”