Berlin-based advertising platform Glispa has acquired programmatic native ad exchange Avocarrot in a deal thought to be worth approximately $20 million.
For Glispa, it represents the third acquisition this year, as the ad tech makes ground on its quest to become the go-to marketing platform for app and game developers. In March, the group snapped up mobile ad mediation platform MoneyTap – now integrated into its existing Ampiri platform – and Brazilian-based Mobils some months later to reinforce its LATAM presence.
“With two acquisitions this year and the launch of the Ampiri native ad mediation platform we’re solidly positioned to drive monetisation for app developers and help them reach their full revenue potential,” said Glispa CEO and founder, Gary Lin.
Glispa now plans to build Avocarrot’s supply-side platform into Ampiri, with the aim of “seamlessly” monetising in-app ads both programmatically and manually through a single platform. It also offers its demand partners an additional channel to work through.
Small but powerful
With a foothold in San Francisco and Athens, Avocarrot’s relatively small size – four founders and 14 ad tech engineers – belies a leading real-time bidding exchange which plays host to over 25 demand-side platforms and ad networks.
Developers and publishers also have access to Avocarrot’s ad server to launch direct advertising campaigns or cross promote their own products.
“Avocarrot brings immediate value to Glispa Global Group and together we’re offering one of the top independent, native advertising solutions on the market today,” added Lin.
Glispa’s chief product officer, Freddy Friedman, was quick to point out how the acquisition bucks trends in the app marketing space.
“Most mobile monetization companies focus either on programmatic advertising or on ad mediation and we’ve now strategically combined both in the most seamless way.”
In an interview with PerformanceIN earlier in the year, Lin laid out three “areas of focus” throughout 2016; further expansion into untapped markets, enhancing native ad monetisation, and building out advanced user level audience insights. Based on the acquisitions made so far, Glispa is well on course to see these through.