Adform Raises $5.5M To Expand Its Rich Media Ad Business In The US

European ad-tech company Adform is announcing that it has raised $5.5 million in Series B funding.

The company was founded more than a decade ago, in 2002. Chief Marketing Officer Martin Stockfleth Larsen told me it sells its technology to both advertisers and publishers, with products including a demand side platform for ad-buying from multiple sources.

Most DSPs, Larsen added, “compete on algorithms,” namely their ability to efficiently buy ads through real-time bidding. While that’s part of Adform’s offering, its real focus has been on rich media ads, including a variety of video formats. Those formats aren’t unique, but Larsen said that with Adform, advertisers can “easily scale rich media” rather than go through the standard process that’s “very manual, very cumbersome” and can require negotiation with and customization for individual publishers.

Those ads can run across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices — Larsen said mobile has become a big part of Adform’s traffic, though revenue lags behind.

Supposedly, the company has always been profitable, but he said the funding will allow it to become “more aggressive,” particularly in the United States, where it recently opened two sales offices (in New York and Los Angeles). Adform also plans to launch its own data management platform and to expand its efforts in outdoor advertising.

The new funding comes from Nordic firm Via Venture Partners, which previously invested in Adform a few years ago.