Vemba Raises $6 Million in Series A-1 Funding from Time Warner Investments and Spotx

SpotX’s Investment Further Expands Vemba’s Relationship With The Video Advertising Platform

Toronto-based Vemba announced that it has raised $6 million in series A-1 funding from Time Warner Investments and SpotX, with participation from existing investors Upfront Ventures and Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments. The funding will be used to further expand the company’s technology offering for content owners and publishers and continue rollout of the platform to the world’s largest media companies.

Global advertising demand for premium mobile and desktop video experiences continues to increase, with advertiser budgets for video growing by nearly 70% in the last two years. New video formats in social, over-the-top (OTT), and on the Web require more diverse options for content owners looking to achieve broad distribution and publishers aiming to enrich the video experience for their users.

“In the current video landscape, flexibility is paramount. It is no longer acceptable to present an offering with confined player options or advertising rules.  We built Vemba to be the most dynamic platform ever introduced to the marketplace, allowing producers and publishers to transact more easily and simplify the complex editorial and business workflows associated with legacy models,” Norbert Horvath, Founder and CTO, Vemba said.

Vemba has created the first player-agnostic technology solution for video distribution, allowing publishers to integrate third-party video content and advertising within their preferred editorial process and existing video workflow. Producers maintain better control of their content with Vemba, and publishers can feature original and complementary video without needing to adjust for unwieldy third-party players or advertising restrictions.

With Vemba at the intersection of every transaction, both content owner and publisher receive real-time analytics on the performance of video and advertising, regardless of OVP, video player, ad server, or CDN.

“Too often video syndication businesses have run on an ‘honor system,’ with producers sending a feed into the atmosphere and crossing their fingers they’d get a report 30 to 60 days later telling them how their content performed. Using Vemba, all parties will have the same real-time insight into performance, allowing for continuous optimization of delivery and programming,” Horvath said

“With so many options for content extension in the marketplace, it’s imperative that media owners maintain close guard of their video and ensure destinations align well with their brand. Working with Vemba enables Vice to efficiently manage all components of our strategy, from publisher selection to programming strategy and user experience,” Andrew Smith, SVP Digital Advertising Product and Solutions at Vice, a Vemba partner said.

“Video businesses that position themselves between premium content and high-quality, brand-safe scale will continue to win the day,” said Scott Levine, Managing Director at Time Warner Investments.  “We recognize Vemba’s platform will be critical as big media companies navigate an increasingly complex video ecosystem.”

SpotX’s investment further expands Vemba’s relationship with the video advertising platform.

“We see our publisher partners having a growing need for flexible distribution and monetization solutions that work across multiple content outlets. Combining the Vemba distribution infrastructure with SpotX’s modern ad serving solution will provide media owners with an integrated and holistic view on content, distribution, audiences and sales,” Mike Shehan, CEO, SpotX said.