Capital amounting to $35 million has been raised by content discovery platform, Outbrain, which brings the company’s total financing to $99 million.
Flush with new funding, Outbrain has revealed it intends to use it to maintain its global expansion, as the platform maker looks to build on the 13 international offices it has already.
Any remaining cash left burning a hole in Outbrain’s bank account will help it to continue innovating in content discovery, to ensure all recommendations maintain quality and integrity.
Seven Years of Discovery
Since 2006, Outbrain has been helping consumers discover content they might not have come across under normal circumstances. Now though, CEO Yaron Galai believes is the right time for the company to kick on to the next level.
“This investment comes at a pivotal moment in Outbrain’s evolution,” Galai said. “We’ve matured from an upstart content recommendation company to a key player in the content ecosystem and a trusted partner for the world’s best brands and publishers.”
Listed by comScore, Outbrain serves more than 130 billion organic and paid content recommendations per month. Its links also appear on various news websites such as CNN, Slate, ESPN, The Telegraph, Le Monde and The Guardian.
HarbourVest Takes Lead
The latest investment has been led by HarbourVest, with participation from existing Outbrain investors, Carmel Ventures, Index Ventures, Gemini Israel Ventures, GlenRock Israel, Rhodium, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, as well as a new participant, Vintage Partners.
HarbourVest may be a newcomer on Outbrain’s busy list of investors, but that does not mean it has only just stumbled across the content company. According to principle at HarbourVest Partners, Ian Lane, it is the opposite.
“We’ve been following Outbrain’s progress for over two years and continue to be incredibly impressed with what Yaron and the rest of the team have created,” Lane said.
“This is a company committed to providing value to readers and publishers through quality content. Outbrain is a clear leader in a growing and increasingly important part of the internet advertising marketplace.”