Ad Optimizer Rubicon Project Grabs $15 Million

By Ty McMahan     Venture Wire     January 28, 2008

In just eight months, advertising optimization service Rubicon Project has gone from founded to funded to the tune of $21 million.

"In terms of the funding, obviously it's a significant amount for a company at our phase," founder and Chief Executive Frank Addante said. "But I think we have something special. I think we're embarking on advertising technology 2.0."

The new $15 million Series B round was led by Mayfield Fund with participation from IDG Ventures Asia; Stanford University; University of California Berkeley; Matt Coffin, founder and former CEO of LowerMyBills.com; and Series A investor Clearstone Venture Partners. The recent funding follows a $6 million financing the company announced four months ago.

Addante said as the total online advertising market has grown, so has the number of ad networks. He said advertisers spread money across more than 300 ad networks, causing confusion in keeping track of advertising visibility and monetization. Rubicon Project acts as a middleman for publishers to analyze what ad networks will best serve them. The company is already serving 3,000 Web sites.

"The number that has signed up is overwhelming," Addante said. "We're just trying to chase that demand."

Web sites using Rubicon Project's technology have seen revenue increases ranging from 33% to 300%, Addante said.

Addante said the recent round of funding will be used to grow the Los Angeles company's team and infrastructure, and to expand the business to Asian and European markets.