Series A funding round for mobile and games advertising
LoopMe, provider of social mobile advertising, has announced the closure of a $3 million funding round that saw the London headquartered firm secure the backing of major funds with publishing, mobile games, advertising and big data credentials.
The funding, from Holtzbrinck Ventures, Open Ocean Capital and private investor Kristian Segerstrale, will be used to support LoopMe's vision of social advertising revolutionising mobile and games advertising.
LoopMe enables consumers to make advertising more effective by enabling sharing and adding social endorsement and feedback such as like, dislike, stop, share and tweets or comments about products, to ads. This allows others to socially discover adverts on smartphones and tablets and making advertising more transparent and effective, claimed the company.
LoopMe uses big data including artificial intelligence and machine learning to identify which pieces of content are best for which users at which point in time. The LoopMe platform integrates seamlessly into other publishers' applications including most of the world's largest apps and games.
Having already experienced strong revenue growth globally from mobile games advertisers and reaching profitability, LoopMe will use the new funds to continue its expansion and further development of proprietary artificial intelligence and social discovery technology.
LoopMe now employs 30 people from its London headquarters and plans to accelerate recruitment at a global level, whilst also building upon its team of senior industry advisors.
The company's expansion will see LoopMe seek additional opportunities in markets including the US and Asia, where significant success has been seen to date in the gaming sector. The company will also continue to develop its targeted brand advertising campaigns in video and rich full screen experiences.
Investor, Holtzbrinck Ventures has over a decade of experience in the internet sector and has successfully backed more than 100 start ups. Other large investor, Open Ocean Capital has a background in supporting big data projects.
Segerstrale, who has made a personal investment in LoopMe, is based on the West Coast of the US and is becoming an advisor to the business, helping LoopMe to continue to capitalise on opportunities in the US. Segerstrale was early investor in and board member of mobile games giant Supercell, valued at over $3 billion today. Previously he was a co-founder of mobile game pioneer Glu Mobile and Playfish, the social gaming pioneer, where he served as CEO through the company's rapid growth to 60 million players, and its subsequent acquisition by Electronic Arts for $400 million in 2009.
Barbod Namini of Holtzbrinck Ventures said: 'In LoopMe we found a world class team with the clear vision to innovate and lead in mobile advertising. With a tremendous global reach of shareable rich media and video ads and Big Data Artificial Intelligence capabilities, LoopMe is set to disrupt the mobile advertising landscape and completely redefine the way end users socially engage with ads.'
