Dive Brief:
- Ad tech as a whole hasn’t been attractive to venture capitalists of late, but exceptions are made for one ad tech sector – mobile video ads.
- Proving this, Jun Group, a mobile video ad firm, just raised $28 million in VC funding.
- The investment was led by the private-equity firm Halyard Capital and also included Bridge Bank.
Dive Insight:
Ad tech companies haven’t been popular lately for venture capital activity, and even some new breed publishers are avoiding these firms, particularly programmatic ad networks. But, the exception that proves the rule in this trend is mobile video ad firms are still getting interest. The most recent example is the Jun Group, a 10-year-old private ad tech firm that specializes in mobile video ads, just raised $28 million in a round led by the private-equity firm Halyard Capital, also including Bridge Bank. Jun Group’s focus is specifically on mobile app video ads.
Jun Group CEO Mitchell Reichgut told The Wall Street Journal, “We’ve seen this huge transition from the desktop search-based Web to the mobile app-based Web, and it’s time for us to capture that marketplace. It’s easy to forget that people spend time outside of Facebook and Google on their mobile devices.”
Jun Groups advertisers include brands such as McDonald’s, Microsoft and Chevrolet.