CTV advertising platform tvScientific, a specialist in performance advertising on streaming TV, has completed a $9.4 million convertible note funding round (a type of funding which allows investors to convert debt into equity for a set price at a later date). S4S Ventures, a venture capital firm co-founded by Sir Martin Sorrell, joined the funding round as a new investor alongside BDMI and Progress Ventures. NBCU, Hearst Ventures, Aperiam Ventures and Norwest Capital Partners are also investors in the firm.
TvScientific is one of a number of ad tech companies working to provide performance oriented advertising tools on TV. The company started off in the self-serve space, and helped build NBCUniversal’s self-serve platform which it launched last year. Since then it’s been adding more performance tools to its own self-serve ad buying platform, including the ability for advertisers to buy on a cost-per-outcome basis (as opposed to a more standard CPM model). This allows brands to buy based on outcomes including purchases, ROAS, post-campaign traffic, or other actions visible to the company. The company also offers a number of custom CTV targeting segments and web-to-TV retargeting.
A lot of the legwork in terms of targeting and measurement is done by its proprietary deterministic ID technology, which it says can reach 95 percent of ad-supported video on-demand (AVOD) audiences. It also has partnerships with retail data providers to power outcome measurement.
“Advertising via Connected TV is a sleeping giant,” said Sorrell. “With half of US TV watching now taking place over streaming services and providers such as Amazon, Netflix and Disney all introducing new membership tiers with variable rates of advertising, partners who can drive lower funnel activation, performance, measurement, and ROI are positioned for huge success. Jason and his team at tvScientific are a pioneering force in this fast-evolving industry and their platform has the potential to redefine how companies engage with their TV audiences.”
Sanja Partalo, co-founder and managing partner of S4S Ventures, said the company’s investment demonstrates its belief that “performance-based CTV will continue to transform the TV advertising landscape, as advertisers continue to move large portions of their media budgets to CTV”.
