Demand Side Platform (DSP) StrikeAd has appointed Carl Costa as managing director for StrikeAd Asia to head up a major expansion into the rapidly growing Asian mobile advertising market. Costa will be responsible for managing operations across AsiaPac, including Australia and New Zealand, and driving awareness for StrikeAds dedicated mobile advertising DSP in the region. The company is grounding its efforts in Asia from its new hub in Singapore, where it is hiring top local executives.
Costa has worked with clients across the globe and has extensive mobile knowledge and experience in the AsiaPac region, having previously worked for Enpocket, which was acquired by Nokia. He was later a founding member of 24MAS, the mobile gaming and advertising network. StrikeAd recently relocated its headquarters to New York as part of its global expansion strategy, and says that AsiaPac represents its next major growth market. According to Informa, mobile commerce in AsiaPac is expected to reach $139bn by 2012, with online advertising spend across the region reaching $22.2bn by 2014, 22.9 per cent of the global spend (eMarketer). Last year StrikeAd partnered with mediba Inc., a leading Tokyo-based advertising business to market its mobile DSP Platform into the Japanese market.
“Weve witnessed the massive upturn in the adoption of smartphones across Asia over the last 12-18 months, and as a result, budgets for mobile are only increasing,” says Costa. “We are in the prime position to help educate the market in AsiaPac on the benefits of using a mobile DSP with real-time bidding capabilities, and we’re building a local team ready to deliver this effectively to the market. Our DSP platform is second-to-none, and we are excited to break into this rapidly growing market.” 
StrikeAd CEO, Alex Rahman, says Costa’s experience of the mobile Asian market makes him a key appointment for the firm. “With StrikeAds constant expansion, he will be invaluable in helping to grow the company across what is a new and exciting market for us,” says Rahaman.
