Dive Brief:
- PapayaMobile is a Beijing-based programmatic ad tech firm that pivoted from social mobile games and is now reaping the benefits of that shift via an IPO in China that values the company at $337 million (2.2 billion renminbi).
- PapayaMobile has another element that sets it apart – it is headed up by a woman, CEO Si Shen.
- Shen told Venture Beat the funds from the IPO will in part be used for international acquisitions.
Dive Insight:
Shen co-founded PapayaMobile in 2008, and made the move to turn the firm toward programmatic advertising tech around three years ago. She definitely made the correct move as programmatic is becoming a major piece of digital marketing internationally, and taking up an increasing percentage of digital ad spending.
She said, “We had a lot of experience in promoting games and content outside of China. As more Chinese companies expanded overseas, we picked them up as clients. They didn’t have the technology and experience in how to acquire good quality users outside of China.”
As a female leader, Shen stands out in an industry that has a very real diversity problem.
The wide-ranging issues that plague advertising and technology are reminiscent of "Mad Men" days, even if they are not exclusive to the industry. From a recent gender discrimination suit filed against WPP’s J. Walter Thompson agency to a lack of non-male, non-white faces in the tech workforce, a state that really stands out at the leadership level, the industry has work to do to transform the business.