Global mobile advertising marketplace Adfonic yesterday said it has raised an additional $7.5 million in funding from existing investors and expects to continue expanding its presence in the United States on both coasts.
About 45 percent of the company’s business comes from the United States, says London-based CEO Victor Malachard. The company will keep its headquarters in the United Kingdom, but he doesn’t discount the possibility that one day one of the company’s founders will relocate to the United States. They opened an office in New York earlier this year and are adding an office in San Francisco; it’s recruiting and hiring for both locations.
This latest round of funding for the growing company comes primarily from Gordon Shields and another investor who wishes to remain anonymous. Shields has been an investor since the beginning of the company, which launched in September 2009. Shields Environmental for many years has been in the “green” business of decommissioning telecom network equipment and re-purposing it.
Sticking with the angel, or “super angel” investment strategy if you will, suits Adfonic just fine. While venture capitalists have expressed interest, the company is fortunate to have investors with deep pockets and that gives the company more control than it might have under a different financing scenario. Malachard says it just makes sense given the relationship is working well, the chemistry is there and, as he says, why change a winning combination?
The funding will be used to accelerate the company’s momentum on the global stage, and mobile apps are making it easy to expand globally. “We’re very focused on the app market,” Malachard says. “Most brands do have an app and are looking to get that discovered in the ecosystem.”
Adfonic currently employs 40 people worldwide and plans to employ up to 100 within the year. It serves Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.
The company is running about 3,000 campaigns each month, many for top brands that want to get their apps discovered, so it’s a lot of click-to-download campaigns. Clients include some big names, such as Samsung, eBay, McDonald’s, Groupon and Warner Bros.
Adfonic fits into the same category as companies like Millennial Media, Google/Admob, BuzzCity and InMobi. Adfonic says it has grown revenues 10-fold over the last 12 months and increased its network of publisher sites and apps to more than 8,000.
Like a lot of folks, Malachard expects more consolidation in the mobile ad space. “It’s a really fast growing market and you expect a lot of investments and new startups… Ad dollars always follow eyeballs.”
