AdKeeper Takes $35 Million in Latest Round
Startup lets consumers save online ads for later.
AdKeeper, a startup that allows consumers to save online ads for later, has raised $35 million in Series B financing. The new round brings ten-month-old AdKeeper’s total financing to $43 million to date. The company is led by About.com founder Scott Kurnit.
New investor Oak Investment Partners led the latest round. Previous investors DCM, True Ventures, Spark Capital, First Round Capital, Lerer Ventures, The New York Times Company, and Betaworks also participated, along with individual investors Kurnit; Stan Shuman, a former News Corp. director; and David Cowan, a partner at Bessemer Ventures.
Kurnit said several angel investors did not participate in the latest round because “they don’t do deals that are this big.”
The company previously raised $8 million in a Series A round in March 2010. The B round closed on December 20 after a “multi-month process.”
AdKeeper initially intended to raise $15 million. Kurnit said the extra cash proves AdKeeper is a strong company. AdKeeper clients include McDonald’s, Pepsi, Allstate, AT&T, and Best Buy, among others. “It’s helpful for them to know we have resources to deliver on promises,” Kurnit said.
Kurnit said the funds will be used for growth, including marketing, software, sales and “everything one does in a business.” He did not disclose a specific valuation.
“We raised a lot more than a ten-month old company would [ordinarily] raise, mostly to do with the big footprint we intend to have on the Internet,” Kurnit said.
The company offers an advertising service that, in its words, will “empower consumers to engage with online advertising on their own time and terms.” Ads are kept in private personal “Keepers,” where they can be reviewed later. These buttons will appear on ads wherever the company’s clients advertise online.
“In a lot of ways, AdKeeper is about time-shifting,” Kurnit said.
As a result of the round, Fred Harman, managing partner of Oak Investment Partners, joins AdKeeper’s five-member board of directors.
Founded in March 2010, the company emerged from stealth in October and will officially launch in mid-February. It has 56 employees.
