Partnership to further support native, cookie-less advertising technology and create enhanced revenue opportunities for publishers

Today, Revcontent announced it had sold a majority stake in the business to a group of institutional investors led by Star Mountain Capital and Capital Dynamics.

With the native advertising market valued at more than $40B, native is seen as an alternative to cookie-dependent media buying, driving cost efficiencies for advertisers and high-performance yield for publishers. With privacy legislation and cookie deprecation driving advertisers to invest in native formats, such as content recommendation, programmatic yield has become even more critical to publisher success.

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Revcontent’s advertising network is made up of 90 percent-plus first-party demand, offering stable, consistent cost per thousand impressions (CPMs) for publishers without seasonal volatility. By partnering with Star Mountain Capital and Capital Dynamics, Revcontent will be able to offer competitive revenue for publishers and increased scale for advertisers.

Richard Marques, CEO of Revcontent, said, “Revcontent has been bootstrapped since our inception, forcing us to cut our teeth differently than many technology firms. With a certain level of pragmatism built into our DNA, this has greatly serviced us and, ultimately, our partners in a tremendous way. We’ve accomplished an incredible amount in terms of product evolution and revenue growth, and we continue to explore new ways to find differentiation through viable and sustainable revenue offerings to our partners. The writing is on the wall with respect to cookies, privacy, and user experiences.”

For Revcontent partners, resources will be further invested into technology development, reach expansion, targeting capabilities, and unique product suite offerings. In its next phase of growth, Revcontent aims to evolve the native industry into a more premium environment for brands and publishers, offering more brand safety tools without diluting publisher yield. Revcontent also looks to increase reach and presence in international markets and develop consumer-facing products with user utility.

Marques added, “We’re ready to lead the way in differentiating native to make it a more appealing product to premium brands and marketers, creating a truly elegant advertising solution. The timing is perfect for Revcontent and our partners, and I couldn’t be more excited to find partners like Star Mountain and Capital Dynamics to aid us in taking the next step in our journey as a platform.”

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Star Mountain Capital is a leading asset management firm, managing approximately $2 billion in assets across a variety of industries. With a well-positioned investment portfolio of lower middle-market ad tech companies, the investment team is expert in helping lower middle-market companies grow.

Bruce Eatroff, Managing Director at Star Mountain Capital, said, “We are extremely excited to partner with Richard Marques and the management team at Revcontent to help them accelerate growth by adding new products, capabilities, and additional, talented staff. We believe Revcontent has a unique position within the native advertising market and will benefit from advertisers’ increasing focus on contextual advertising, given a number of the changes occurring to restrict consumer privacy. Revcontent is ideally positioned to deliver innovative solutions to both publishers and advertisers in this environment.”

Andrew Bernstein, Head of Private Equity at Capital Dynamics, commented, “As a fast-growing business that is poised to benefit from the acceleration of everything digital, Revcontent fits squarely into the criteria we look for in new investments. Driven by an innovative business model and respect for personal privacy, the Company is well-positioned to thrive in the evolving advertising industry. We are excited to partner with Richard, Star Mountain, and the talented Revcontent team to take the business to the next level.”

Founded in 2013, Revcontent entered a highly competitive market dominated by two key players, quickly establishing a company standard of 20% to 30% higher revenue for publishers versus competitors. By 2017, Revcontent was ranked #215 on Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America and named a Best Place to Work in Advertising by AdAge, boasting exclusive, multi-year partnerships with some of the world’s leading publishers. In 2018, Revcontent was named MarTech’s Best Overall Ad Tech Solution, and in 2020, Revcontent exceeded $500M-plus in revenue paid out to publishers.

Debt financing for the transaction was provided by Star Mountain Capital and BHI. The seller in the transaction was advised by RBC Capital Markets.

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