Of all the programmatic trading platforms out in the market, AcuityAds may have been one of those the limelight has so far evaded. But that may be set to change, after the company went public to finance its current round of growth.
First founded in 2009 and also offering a data management platform, the outfit listed in Toronto in 2014. AcuityAds CEO Tal Hayek explains why, in this video interview with Beet.TV.
“We made a strategic decision that the winners in this space are going to be on the self-serve side of things – we needed to make an investment in to that,” he says. “We wanted to expand in to the US, hiring a sales force. Today, more than 50% of our revenue is on the self-serve side.”
Beside investing in technology and sales, AcuityAds is also spending on features. This summer, it acquired 140 Proof, a company that helps advertisers target their campaigns based on social data, for up to $20m. And Hayek reveals more buy-ups are on the cards.
“We’re going to go in to the red for a few quarters, then we’re going to be profitable again,” he says. “Once that happens, we’re going to go and buy other companies.
“Our 40% to 50% organic growth is not good enough for us anymore, we want to grow faster so we are able to compete with the larger companies out there. We are doing it through acquisitions. We are adding components to the system that we do not have today.”
Before AcuityAds, Hayek founded IncentaClick, an affiliate network.
