TVTY, a startup that enables online ad campaigns to sync with offline events to make online marketing more timely and relevant, has raised $6.7 million in further funding. Serena Capital led the round, while previous investors Partech International and 360 Capital Partners also participated.
The company says it will use the new capital to increase headcount in its R&D team and to grow its customer success teams across the U.K., U.S. and France in order to accelerate growth. It had previously raised $6.85 million in funding, including a $4.5 million round in 2014.
A pioneer of so-called moment marketing, TVTY has developed a platform that lets advertisers instantly launch digital marketing campaigns triggered by offline events such as TV shows or commercials, sports events and changes in the weather. It is used by both brands and agencies in more than 40 different countries worldwide, including Sony, Intel, Tesco, O2, GSK, Volkswagen and Nationwide.
Its more important than ever for brands to be in the moment when it comes to their marketing message if they want to cut through the noise, be relevant and optimize their media spend, says Eliott Reilhac, TVTY CEO in EMEA. That means delivering powerful messages in real time, that connect with people at the key moments when they reach for their smartphone or tablet to check the web or interact on social media. The problem for brands is how to do this at scale, in an automated fashion and in an ever evolving digital landscape.
To that end, Reilhac says TVTYs proprietary technology monitors and reacts to more triggers than any other platform on the market (over one million, apparently), such as weather, sports, financial, health, TV ads and pollution. These are thought to be key moments when consumers turn to their devices to go online for more information in which they can also be bombarded with ads relevant to that moment.
In addition, the startups Universal Trigger product lets brands use any public or private data feed to launch what the startup describes as hyper-targeted moment marketing campaigns. Examples of these types of data-driven triggers include real-time flight information, stock levels, box-office sales or public transport delays and can be as granular as required.
