Burstly Raises $5.5M For In-App Ad Management; Launches Mobile Offer Mediation For iOS & Android

App developers don’t exactly have a plethora of monetization options, which is why, alongside in-app purchases, they’re becoming increasingly reliant on mobile advertising. For this reason, they want to get the most out of their ads, and, really, they want to sell directly to customers. Unfortunately, for most small teams, this just isn’t in the cards. Which is where startups like Burstly enter the picture.

While there are plenty of mobile ad mediation solutions to choose from, Burstly CEO Evan Rifkin thinks that the current batch isn’t doing enough to empower developers to take complete control over monetization opportunities. For example, the startup offers a storefront for developers that enables them to establish their own branded portal where advertisers can directly purchase placements in their apps.

As to where the space is going, Rifkin says that developers want to control and manage all of their revenue channels from one dashboard so that they can have an apples to apples comparison of what brings in the most money, whether that’s ad networks, offer providers, cross-promotion, or direct sales. To further this goal, the startup is today launching Burstly Rewards, a product that mediates mobile offers both on iOS and Android.

Simply put, Rewards enables developers to mediate multiple providers within one wall, mixing in-house and direct campaigns and the ability to match the UI to their app’s look and feel, as well as support multiple offer types, whether they be videos, offers, downloads (Android only), and shares.

Burstly’s product aims to put the controls in the hands of developers so that they make immediate changes without having to make an SDK update — if they need to shut off a certain partner who isn’t in compliance, for example, they can do so quickly, or add new partners without updating their SDK.

The product has two essential components: The Rewards Wall, which allows app developers to mix and match third-party networks, in-house, and directly-sold offers in one place, along with selecting which providers (and the number of offers) to be displayed. Second is the Rewards Page, which allows them to run reward-driven campaigns through a customizable, branded page that fills the app’s entire screen. Users can access the Rewards page through custom buttons and/or banners throughout the apps.

The idea behind these new products, and Burstly’s existing feature set is to try to give developers every conceivable monetization opportunity for their apps. As the ad mediation space evolves, Rifkin says that, rather than view others in the space as competitors, the startup is working to plug other players into their solution to do just that, for example, Smaato, Mobclix, Nexage, and MoPub are all on the list. With more coming soon.

To support the launch of its new products, and further development to its Storefront offering, Burstly is today announcing that it has raised $5.5 million in series B financing from GRP Partners, Rincon Venture Partners, and SoftBank Capital. These existing investors were the main contributors to the company’s $1.8 million series A raise back in March of last year. The company’s total investment now stands at just north of $7.3 million.

Burstly Rewards is in beta starting today and developers can request to join. Rifkin says that the company will have several “well-known” titles launching with the Rewards product before the holidays.

For more, check out Burstly at home here.