Following the opening of offices in New York and San Francisco during the last year, The Exchange Lab has charged itself for further growth by securing new capital.
The bank-backed Business Growth Fund (BGF) has stepped in as the new backer, as it continues to distribute its £2.5 billion pot.
The business, which was set up by James Aitken and Tim Webster in 2007, delivers campaigns across digital display, video, social media and mobile channels.
Having banked the $8 million (£5 million), The Exchange Lab will be speeding up its technology roadmap as well as expanding its access to ‘premium’ advertising inventory.
Webster, co-founder and CSO of The Exchange Lab, believes that by linking up with the BGF, the business will be able to transition to the next level.
Its trading and intelligence platform, DataLab, uses data to find the right audience for customers such as WPP, McDonalds and Dell.
Aitken, CEO and co-founder of the company, comments, ‘BGF’s appetite for further developing its investment in pioneering, high-growth digital media and technology companies and their backing by the British banks makes them the perfect partner for The Exchange Lab as we find ourselves at the centre of the surge in programmatic buying, a market that is forecast to triple in the coming four years.’
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The Exchange Lab now joins the likes of Unruly Media, which distributes sponsored video content for media agencies and brands through a network of 10,000 publisher websites, as an online digital portfolio company of the BGF.
The deal follows a period of development which saw the business achieve organic growth of 200 per cent year-on-year in 2012. Through its new offices in the US, The Exchange Lab has tripled its staff count in the last 12 months.
BGF investment director Chris Hodges says, ‘The Exchange Lab’s senior management team led by James and Tim have a track record of building and selling successful companies.
‘BGF’s investment will support the business in its global expansion and accelerate the development of it proprietary programmatic buying technology allowing it to take advantage of a significant growth opportunity, creating value for its shareholders.’
The BGF has now invested in 37 businesses across 17 sectors, with 12 million committed to the media technology market. Its most recent deal in the space saw content management system business Abacus e-Media secure £2.25 million.
