Programmatic is an approach to online advertising that that enables firms to buy and sell digital inventory based on data, while Admedo’s approach claims to deliver a transparent, simple and customised service for businesses.

Research from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK, has found that nearly half of online display ads in 2014 were bought programmatically – amounting to almost £1bn. The common complaint, however, is that the spend is difficult to track, which inspired Admedo’s easy usability approach.

Nick Moutter, CEO and co-founder of Admedo, said: “The world of programmatic still has a long way to go and is suffering from frustrations of many, around lack of transparency, margins and ease of use.

“This is precisely why Admedo was created – to ensure absolute clarity and to give the power back to the advertisers by lifting the lid on this proverbial black box.”

Headquartered in Holborn, the British business has also opened offices in New York, LA, Paris and Berlin following its launch in 2013. It has generated a client base including Boots, Aer Lingus, Michael Kors, Airbnb, Tesco Bank and Reckitt Benckiser.

The $6m funding round from MMC Ventures, which saw the firm join existing investor Sussex Place Ventures, will help scale the global business even further with the opening of a Dubai office in the coming months.

Admedo joins an MMC portfolio, which already includes well-known startups such as Appear Here, Bloom & Wild, Gousto, Love Home Swap and Somo.

Read more on MMC’s portfolio companies:

• Appear Here: Disrupting the high street, one pop-up at a time
• Love Home Swap begins acquisition agenda with buyout of Dutch rival HomeForExchange
• How Gousto will challenge Tesco and make fresh food delivery fashionable with £9m pot

Moutter highlighted UK and US growth as “fantastic” and said the next few years will “take the business on a new growth journey”.

Simon Menashy, investment director, MMC Ventures, added: “We’ve been watching programmatic advertising’s explosive growth with interest, but so far most of the benefits have gone to the same established players in the ad world.

“Nick, Laura and their team are making a big impact in the industry by trying to change this, opening up the latest capabilities to everyone and bringing some much needed transparency by allowing clients to truly track the return on their advertising spend.

“It’s no surprise that Admedo has grown impressively as a result, and we’re looking forward to working with the team to get to the next level of scale.”

With tech investments in mind, a marine tech company in Portsmouth has secured its first round of equity funding, promoting a message to “unleash your inner superhero” with its underwater jet packs. 

By Zen Terrelonge