Video advertising startup Brainient has secured $800,000 in financing, led by venture investor Arts Alliance, best known for backing DVD/Video on demand startup LoveFilm, Opera Software and Lastminute. More interestingly the round includes Silicon Valley maven investor Dave McClure as well as Alex Hoye, Algy Williams and Cambridge set alumni Sherry Coutu.
Brainient’s enhanced video advertising lets publishers and agencies place ads inside videos using a drag and drop interface
Video advertising is expected to hit $3.3 billion globally by 2012, but with competition, video pre-roll ad rates have fallen since the first half of 2010 versus 2009.
According to eMarketer, 36% of online video viewers click away on pre-roll ads. So Briainient’s technology concentrates on creating actionable banner ads in the video, such as booking a test-drive while watching a video advert for a new car.
Is this the savior of newspapers, magazines and TV? Probably not. But Brainient, Gals third startup, may get somewhere.
So far it’s had €50,000 in seed funding post early stage competition Seedcamp Week.
Jason Goodman, CEO of Albion London, Claude London, Digital Director of Global Web Properties at BBC Worldwide and Oliver Shapleski, Head of Business & Legal Affairs at Arts Alliance have joined the board.