Symitri, Inc. Raises $5 Million to Launch the First Privacy Firewall and Real-Time Data Cleanroom for the Open Web

On the heels of more than three years of research and development, Symitri, Inc., announced the close of $5 million in new capital from institutional investors, KB Partners, AperiamVentures and Trajectory Ventures, along with a constellation of media industry luminaries including Jonah Goodhart, Will Luttrell and Ari Paparo. Designed to balance the economic viability of open-web programmatic advertising with the growing global demand for consumer privacy, Symitri has created a seamless approach to buyer-defined deterministic campaign targeting, measurement and attribution, without exposing any personal data – pseudonymous or otherwise – in the bidstream.

To accelerate market entry, Symitri has contracted with Akamai Technologies to leverage its secure, high-speed network, and has acquired TRUSTX, a cooperative programmatic marketplace launched in 2017 by Digital Content Next (“DCN”) and 30 premium content publishers. TRUSTX will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Symitri and will remain a purpose-driven public benefit corporation (B-Corp) devoted to sustaining the premium, ad-supported open web. Following an initial beta launch with TRUSTX, Symitri plans to expand its supply-chain partnerships and integrations with select identity and data technology providers. With these ecosystem allies, Symitri’s goal is to establish a new foundation for privacy and data protection that fits easily into the thriving programmatic ecosystem.

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The elimination of third-party identifiers is an existential threat to open-web publishers because of the added friction for brands seeking addressability and measurement at scale. This foundational disruption will drive advertisers to reallocate spend to data-rich walled gardens, thus creating a devastating effect on professional news, sports, lifestyle and entertainment publishers who rely on audience-driven programmatic advertising to sustain their businesses.

“Publishers told us they were deeply concerned that next-generation shared identity solutions perpetuate many of the same data leakage and inventory commoditization challenges that cookies created,” said David Kohl, Co-Founder and CEO of Symitri. “And while traditional cleanrooms do the job for some of our largest publishers and their top-tier brand-side clients, thousands of smaller publishers told us they have yet to find a viable, cost-effective option to make their audiences accessible to programmatic buyers without sharing identity data in the bidstream.”

This acute need was the catalyst behind the creation of Symitri’s integrated privacy firewall and real-time data cleanroom for the open web. The platform employs a zero-trust, double-blind approach to security that enables media buyers and sellers to deterministically match audiences without exposing any personal data in the bidstream. Symitri is a customer of Akamai Technologies, whose infrastructure will enable the speed, scale and cost parameters required of the programmatic open web. Akamai is also a Symitri shareholder.

“The open web is increasingly regulated, and the rapid loss of third-party data puts all stakeholders at a disadvantage. Advertisers struggle to reach audiences, publishers are challenged to monetize inventory, and consumers risk losing the ad-supported content they depend on,” said Bill Wheaton, Symitri Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board, and former Akamai Chief Strategy Officer and EVP of Media. “It doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Consumers shouldn’t have to choose between privacy and a free, ad-supported web. We’ve found a way to balance publishers’ and advertisers’ needs with individuals’ rights to control their personal data. We’ve achieved this balance with Symitri.”

“We’ve been experimenting with just about every next-generation identity and privacy protection technology on the market,” said Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at Raptive, a strategic partner delivering revenue solutions for more than 5,000 small to midsized content creators. “Symitri has thoughtfully taken cues from the best of what’s working in deterministic identity, encryption and cohorts, and put them together in a package that seamlessly integrates into the programmatic supply-chain. From what we’ve seen, their approach is effective and easy to integrate for open-web publishers and advertisers of all sizes.”

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Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next, which launched TRUSTX in 2017, reinforced the imperative for a balance in commercial and consumer privacy requirements. “In the crowded market for data and identity solutions, David, Bill and their teams have taken a measured approach to privacy regulation, and a highly consultative R&D approach with our members,” said Kint. “Everything we’ve seen from Symitri demonstrates their holistic commitment to protecting the interests of open web publishers, their advertiser clients and consumers alike.” DCN is one of Symitri’s largest shareholders.

Symitri enters the market during a time when advertisers and publishers know more about their customers than ever before. The personal data relationships these companies have earned with consumers who trust their brands is far too valuable to give away across the digital supply-chain. Symitri’s mission, principles and technology are well-poised to protect these trusted consumer data relationships while balancing the commercial interests of the $600 billion ecosystem for digital marketing, media and advertising with every individual’s fundamental right to privacy.