Lotame, a startup that promises to crack that perplexing puzzle of how to advertise effectively on user-generated content, has raised $13 million in a Series B round. This adds to a Series A funding earlier this year in an amount that was undisclosed but reported to be $10 million. Emergence Capital Partners led the round, and previous investors Battery Investors and Hillcrest Management also participated.
While VCs have grown more cautious in many sectors of the online advertising business, many also acknowledge the need for a better technology to effectively serve up targeted ads on social networking sites. Although social networking traffic is exploding, monetization remains a big challenge, with many of the ads failing to reach intended users.
Emergence Capital General Partner Jason Green said in a statement that Lotame is producing "unparalleled results" through a technology that "translates social media inventory into valuable real estate that brand advertisers love." Green, who participated in a number of ultra-successful exits in the Web 1.0 era, including DoubleClick Inc. and AskJeeves Inc., and is widely recognized as an early-stage star in the online media sector, has also joined Lotame's board. - Andrea Orr
See Aug. 19 story on Lotame funding from News.com
See Feb. 11 story on Lotame's Series A funding from VentureBeat.com
See September 2007 story on Jason Green from TheDeal.com
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