Adludio, the London-based company that offers a market-leading mobile advertising platform, has secured a further £2m investment from Mercia.
The latest funding round will enable it to capitalise on its rapid growth in the US and launch a new fully-automated version of its platform.
Adludio delivers privacy-compliant mobile campaigns that offer interactive experiences to grab consumers’ attention.
Powered by AI and data science, the platform is backed by top-tier creative services. Adludio has worked with brands including Ford, Land Rover Jaguar, Estée Lauder, Nike, Adidas and Microsoft.
Founded in 2015, the company now has a presence in five US cities – New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Detroit – and also delivers services via resellers in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Following Mercia’s initial £4m investment in 2021, Adludio has continued to increase its revenues, in particular in the US where it achieved 50 per cent growth in 2022.
It has also boosted its management team with a number of leading industry figures. The new version of Adludio’s platform, which is due to be launched in 2024, will enable it to fully automate many of its processes and offer customers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product to manage their own campaigns.
The latest funding round comes as the adtech industry contends with continued economic uncertainty, the introduction of stricter privacy rules in many countries as well as the declining use of cookies, and aims to help Adludio consolidate its position at the forefront of the market.
Paul Coggins, Adludio’s CEO, said: “At a time when privacy regulation is increasingly limiting the use of personal data, our sophisticated and unique combination of creative, media and AI is leading brand performance on mobile.
“With this additional investment from Mercia, the next stage of our AI-led platform, offering fully automated capabilities, will provide brands and agencies the chance to translate user attention into profit.”
Mercia was investing from its Northern Venture Capital Trust (VCT) Funds.
Martijn Kleibergen of Mercia said: “With stricter privacy rules, relying on ‘cookies’ to deliver targeted advertising is no longer a viable option.
“Adludio combines strong creative campaigns with algorithms that optimise campaigns in real time to engage consumers without using personal data. This investment will enable it to continue its growth in the US and expand its client base with the launch of its new* self-service platform.”
Mercia currently has c. £1.4 billion of assets under management and, since its IPO in December 2014, has invested in a portfolio of over 400 start-ups from pre-seed to Series B and beyond.
Mercia makes initial equity investments of between £500k and £10 million across all sectors, and has an active investment thesis supporting the growth of the UK’s SpaceTech industry