Rapid Adoption of Real-Time Metrics for TV Ads Illustrates Shift in Market Insight Venture Partners Leads Series B Round, Madrona Doubles Down
Bellevue and New York – May 19, 2015 – iSpot.tv, the company that tracks national TV ads and correlates digital responses in real-time, today announced a $21.9 million Series B funding. The investment was led by Insight Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor, Madrona Venture Group.
iSpot.tv is growing rapidly on the strong demand from brands, networks and agencies to utilize digital-like measurements and real-time intelligence for television advertising. The new round of funding will accelerate product development, hiring and helps prepare the company to unveil new capabilities.
“Brands want to become more responsive with their TV campaigns and our data is the first stop,” said iSpot.tv founder and chief executive, Sean Muller. “TV is changing rapidly and we are excited to bring on investment partners that share our vision for the future of TV and its measurement.”
The iSpot.tv platform is the first to provide the industry with real-time visibility into where and when national TV ads are running and how each creative spot generates a digital response on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and across all major search portals. The unprecedented transparency enables competitive tracking, advertising effectiveness ratings and performance data that is immediately actionable.
Since launching in 2012, the 3-year-old iSpot.tv has grown to over 60 employees and more than 150 clients, including blue-chip brands, agencies and TV networks. It is now home to the world’s largest TV advertising website, with a library of over 100,000 TV ads, and more than 5 million monthly visitors.
“We invest in transformative companies, and iSpot has proven they are a clear leader in their market. We look forward to partnering with the company in this continued stage of growth,” said Brad Twohig, Principal for Insight Venture Partners.
About iSpot.tv
iSpot.tv tracks and measures national TV advertising activity in real-time. Its proprietary technology platform correlates social media activity, video views and search behaviors explicitly to TV airings, providing brands an unprecedented view into earned media activity generated from paid TV campaigns. Fortune 500 brands, TV networks and agencies use the iSpot.tv platform for understanding ad effectiveness, media planning, competitive intelligence and more. The company is based in Bellevue, WA with offices in NYC, LA, and Chicago. iSpot.tv was founded in April 2012 by Sean Muller and has raised more than $27.5M in funding, with participation from Madrona Venture Group, Insight Ventures and TL Ventures. Learn more at www.ispot.tv
About Insight Venture Partners
Insight Venture Partners is a leading global venture capital and private equity firm investing in high-growth technology and software companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. Founded in 1995, Insight has raised more than $10 billion and invested in more than 200 growth-stage software, Internet and data-services companies worldwide. The company’s mission is to find, fund and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with practical, hands-on growth expertise to foster long-term success. www.insightpartners.com; twitter: @insightpartners
About Madrona Venture Group:
Madrona (www.madrona.com) has been investing in early-stage technology companies in the Pacific Northwest since 1995 and has been privileged to play a role in some of the region’s most successful technology ventures. The firm invests predominately in seed and Series A rounds across the information technology spectrum, including consumer Internet, commercial software and services, digital media and advertising, networking and cloud computing, and mobile. Madrona manages approximately $1 billion and was an early investor in companies such as Amazon.com, Apptio, Isilon Systems, and Redfin.
Media Contact: Jason Damata 917-279-8706 jason@fabricmedia.net