ContextIn, an Israeli company I first got to know when they launched their semantic technology platform at my Plugg conference back in 2009, has recently shifted focus to the buying side of the online advertising equation. We’ve now learned that the company has raised “a few million dollars” in a Series A round led by Spark Capital and Pitango.
I have to admit I’m not 100% clear on what they are building – the company has yet to formally launch its solutions publicly – but the general idea is to bring an algorithmic approach to the optimization of media buying across the various display ad exchanges (e.g. AdECN, Right Media and DoubleClick Ad Exchange).
The aim is to provide advertisers and agencies with a way to broaden the target audience for ad impressions at a fraction of the cost through a real-time bidding system similar to those used by companies like MediaMath, AppNexus and Invite Media (recently bought by Google).
ContextIn has also appointed a new CEO since I last heard from them. His name his Tomer Afek, a former Principal at VC firm Evergreen Partners.