JANUARY 4, 2010, SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Quantcast announced today that it has closed a Series C financing round led by Cisco [NASDAQ: CSCO]. Prior investor Polaris Venture Partners co-led the round; increasing its ownership position in the company and previous investors Founders Fund and Revolution Ventures also participated. The financing provides $27.5 million in new capital to support rapid adoption of the Quantcast Media Program. The program, launched in June, brings a scalable, addressable media platform to the advertising industry, offering a standardized means to measure, organize, buy and sell real-time audiences, all based on the distinctive characteristics of a marketer’s proprietary customer data.
“Digital technology is transforming the way media and advertising is measured, personalized and delivered, from TV set-top boxes to the desktop PC and mobile phone,” said Konrad Feldman, Quantcast co-founder and CEO, “As we aim to power ubiquitous addressable media solutions for a networked digital future, we’re thrilled to be able to access Cisco’s deep expertise and global business presence.”
Through Cisco infrastructure and technologies such as content delivery systems, digital signage and the Cisco Eos social entertainment platform, Cisco is enabling its customers to create intelligent, end-to-end media-optimized networks that can extend from the content source to the consumer. The effective delivery of advertising is a business priority for Cisco because of its importance to customers including service providers, content publishers and consumer electronic device manufacturers.
“The digitization of media content is causing wholesale changes to the business and experience of media and advertising,” said Dan Scheinman, senior vice president and general manager, Cisco Media Solutions Group. “We believe an intelligent network is the best platform for delivering high-value experiences in the digital age and are always working to address the needs of our customers. Quantcast’s approach and technology for delivering high-value, targeted advertising aligns with the needs of Cisco’s customers, from service providers to media companies and ultimately consumers.”
Quantcast solutions have attracted participation from hundreds of marketers in every major vertical, over two thirds of the Online Publisher’s Association and high profile media properties such as NBC Universal, Time Inc., Hulu.com, CBS Corporation, Fox News, ABC Inc., Bloomberg and more. In just three years, Quantcast has played a transformative role in how publishers and marketers measure, transact, and fulfill audience-based media services. More than 10 million web destinations participate in its free audience measurement service and hundreds of top online marketers, including the top 10 online media agencies, use Quantcast solutions to gain deep insights into their prospects and customers and to buy the audiences that are most relevant to them across the web.