Ad tech company OpenX just announced that it’s acquiring startup LiftDNA.
The startup offers a supply side platform, which publishers use to automate and optimize the sale of their ad inventory. Combined with OpenX’s ad server and ad exchange technology, CEO Tim Cadogan tells me that the company will be able to offer the first “full revenue stack,” allowing publishers to manage all of their ad revenue in one place.
“That is very important because today the industry is fragmented and publishers have to piece together solutions themselves which is difficult and results in reduced revenue,” Cadogan says. “Providing a unified solution addresses these problems head on and makes publishers more money. We are the first to be able to deliver this unified platform to publishers.”
OpenX will be offering LiftDNA as a standalone product — called, predictably, LiftDNA by OpenX. Still, Cadogan says that by integrating the new offering with OpenX’s ad exchange, the company will open more inventory for real-time buyers, and that by integrating LiftDNA with OpenX’s ad server, it can make optimization decisions more quickly.
The financial terms of the deal are not being disclosed. LiftDNA raised a $1 million angel round in February 2011 led by Ben Franklin Technology Partners.
OpenX recently announced that in the fourth quarter of last year, it achieved an annualized revenue run rate of $100 million and that it’s profitable. The company’s investors include Accel Partners, DAG Ventures, Index Ventures, AOL Ventures (AOL is, of course, the owner of TechCrunch), SAP Ventures, Mitsui & Co., and Presidio Ventures.