Video analytics and advertising company Visible Measures just announced that it has raised $21.5 million in new funding.
Founder and CEO Brian Shin describes the company was a combination of Google Analytics and Google AdSense for video. When it started in 2005, the Visible Measures was focused on analytics, then the company launched its Viewable Media ad platform last year. Viewable Media promises to promote an advertiser’s videos in a way that’s “optimized for earned media” — in other words, to deliver them in the right context and to the right audience so that they’re viewed and shared as regular content.
It’s a time where “what’s old is new again in the video space,” Shin says. Just as soap companies were once the driving force behind the creation of soap operas on TV (hence the name), now brands are getting into the content business again, with viral videos like those featuring the Old Spice guy and Evian’s roller babies — or, on the less humorous side, the how-to videos that many brands create to promote their products and connect with consumers. When it comes to measuring the impact of that content, Shin emphasizes the power and uniqueness of Visible Measures’ data. That data is used for charts like Ad Age’s top viral videos, and which it includes statistics like a video’s “True Reach” across paid, owned, and earned media.
“More than anybody we utilize that data to help get the right people to watch the right content on behalf of brands,” Shin says.
The company says that its advertising customers include (on the brand side) P&G, Ford, Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Unilever, as well (on the agency side) Starcom MediaVest Group, Zenith-Optimedia, GroupM, and Omnicom. It also claims that revenue grew 500 percent last year, and is on-track to grow 300 percent this year.
The new funding was mostly an inside round from existing investors. Previous backer DAG Ventures led the round, with participation from Condé Nast owners Advance Publications, General Catalyst Partners, Mohr Davidow Ventures, Northgate Capital, and new investor Common Fund. Visible Measures has now raised more than $65 million.