Los Angeles ad tech giant Rubicon Project made Q2 a period to remember and forget in equal measure as the company’s recent successes were overshadowed by losses of nearly $12 million.

Positives came in the form of revenue lifting 88% year on year to $53 million and news that the company’s acquisition of search retargeter Chango had been completed ahead of schedule.

Another year-on-year increase was showcased on the balance sheets, but unfortunately in negative territory. Rubicon Project saw its net loss grow from the $9.4 million reported in Q2 2014 to $11.9 million in the same quarter this year.

It doesn’t seem like investors are taking too much notice of the company’s expenditure, though. Share prices rose 20% in the hours after Rubicon’s Q2 readings were announced, while the company is promising to come back much stronger in Q3 with revenue between $63 million to $65 million.

In Q2, earnings more than surpassed analyst expectations of $42.5 million.

A new-look Rubicon

Rubicon is the self-professed ‘leader of automated advertising’ with roots in helping publishers monetise their sites via automated ad selling.

With Canadian firm Chango on board, the group is now looking to cement itself as an end-to-end service where brands can gain access to a range of ad-buying and optimisation tools, including private marketplaces, automated guaranteed and open ad auctions, all through its Buyer Cloud platform.

The added technology and expertise from Chango, a key player in retargeting based on intent data, will be vital in helping Rubicon build a more unified offering for brands and publishers to plug into.

And if there’s anything to take from a quarter which showed revenue growing at an impressive rate, it’s the presence of well-cultivated ground. The company is listed debt free as of June 30 and claims to have fully integrated Chango into its product and engineering functions.  

Looking ahead, the company is hoping its $122 million purchase of Chango can enable full-year revenue to hit $250 million.

This would mark a huge increase on the $125.3 million earned in 2014, which rose 49% on the year before.