Personalized Video Ad Platform Eyeview Raises $8.1M

Eyeview, a company with technology that personalizes video ads, has raised $8.1 million in Series C funding.

You can see some examples of Eyeview’s personalization below. For example, the visuals in an ad for a national retailer could be tailored to highlight local stores and deals. The examples in the video are mostly focused on location, but CEO and co-founder Oren Harnevo said ads can also be personalized based on things like weather and time of day.

There are other personalized ad technologies, but Harnevo said they use Flash banners or some other overlay, whereas Eyeview’s personalization occurs in the video itself — the company can create many different versions of the video, then deliver the correct version to each viewer based on its targeting. And when there’s updated information, like new pricing, the videos are updated, too.

That approach is important because it means there’s no real integration required on the part of the video publishers, and because it means Eyeview’s personalization works across devices.

“In the cloud we’re creating hundreds of thousands of videos that you can then use in mobile, in connected TV, with no limitations,” he said. “This is a real play for cross-platform, cross-stream personalization.”

Harnevo told me that when Eyeview announced its Series B early last year, it was still making its initial entrance into the U.S. market. Now he said it’s working with big advertisers like Land Rover, Lowe’s, Toyota, Paramount and Target. He also said that revenue grew 6x between 2011 and 2012, and it’s on-track to grow the same amount in 2013.

The new round was led by Marker, with participation from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Gemini Israel Funds, and Nauta Capital. The new funding will go towards expanding Eyeview’s market (so that it’s available in all of the United States) and continuing to develop the technology, Harnevo said.

The company has now raised a total of $19.4 million.