Centro, a Chicago-based provider of digital media software and services, today announced the acquisition of Toronto startup SiteScout, a self-serve, real-time bidding (RTB) platform for banner ads on web and mobile. The total price tag came in at nearly $40 million in cash and stock.
Centro provides unified, cloud-based software to simplify digital media operations, providing its users a platform that streamlines and scales ad buying across all channels, accessing both guaranteed and biddable inventory.
SiteScout’s technology has seen rapid adoption, growing to more than 4,000 customers in its first three years, while the deal helps Centro create a unified digital advertising platform. For the first time on Centro marketers will be able to use a single system to manage all of their media, campaign objectives and operations.
“The ad tech industry is filled with disparate point solutions that create complexity for marketers and agencies. SiteScout shares our vision in delivering self-serve technology that puts power and control in the marketers’ hands,” said Centro’s Shawn Riegsecker. “Together we’ll deliver a unified stack across all media, including guaranteed and biddable, that leverages predictive data and analytics to power any campaign objective.”
SiteScout’s technology accesses more than 21 billion daily impressions via integrations with supply sources such as Google AdX, The Rubicon Project, OpenX, Pubmatic, and MoPub. It also provides an ad server for site-direct media buys. Through the acquisition, SiteScout will gain immediate access to Centro’s sales, service and operations team of more than 370 in 33 U.S. markets, and its established relationships with more than 1,200 agencies and 5,700 marketers.
Needless to say it’s a pretty big deal for the 33-person team in Toronto.
SiteScout CEO Paul Mokbel commented that the company was founded on the premise of making programmatic ad buying accessible to marketers. “Centro is a perfect complement as it helps us reach more marketers and agencies instantly,” he said. “We benefit from Centro’s strong leadership, dedicated service culture and huge U.S. sales team. With our superior technology and Centro’s scale, we have the potential to become one of the largest RTB companies in the industry.”
“The digital media marketplace has never been more interesting than it is today, but it has also never been more fragmented. Centro is creating a leadership position by unifying all the disparate pieces of digital media operations into a single platform,” added David Verklin, former CEO of Carat Americas, one of the largest buyers of media time and space in the world.