Mobile advertising network AdMob has announced that it has achieved cash flow positive results and secured a new $15.7 million (9.6 million) Series C investment round, led by Sequoia Capitals Growth Fund ,with existing investor Accel Partners also participating. The company says it has experienced strong growth over the past year, more than tripling the number of ads served on a monthly basis to 4.5 billion in September 2008.
Fuelled by the funding, AdMob says it will make significant strategic investments. These will include an acceleration of the growth of worldwide operations, by hiring local staff in key markets and adding new language interfaces, with an emphasis on Western Europe, India, South Africa and Japan. AdMob says it will also deepen the investment in its mobile technology platform, including its targeting, optimization and ad serving algorithm, expand the breadth of offerings for both publishers and advertisers, and grow its sales and business development teams in the US.
Today, AdMob reaches more consumers on their mobile phones through our publisher network than any of the major Internet portals or search services, and this is just the beginning, says AdMob CEO, Omar Hamoui. We chose to raise this new round of funding to continue to grow both the mobile advertising market and AdMobs clear advantage in it by investing in the technology, operations and team that have set the bar for the mobile industry.
AdMob has also revealed that its publisher network now includes more than 6,000 partners worldwide. New publishers in 2008 include MySpace and MovieTickets.com.
The company says it also continues to see a steep increase in the number of brand and performance advertisers running campaigns on its network, with especially strong demand for iPhone inventory. In September 2008, AdMob ran more than 25 campaigns for brand advertisers, including CoverGirl, Toshiba, and Comedy Central.