Adtile, a startup that says it’s bringing an “app store”-style approach to mobile ads, is announcing that it has raised $4.5 million in Series A funding.
Earlier this year, I wrote about the company’s Motion Ads format, which asks users to interact with their ads by shaking, turning, and otherwise playing with them. For example, a coffee shop ad could ask users to shake their phones, emptying a virtual coffee cup in the process, which then reveals a list of nearby stores.
More recently, founder and CEO Nils Forsblom gave me a demo of new editing tools that should make it easier to create these ads, and he said the company is working with customers in North America, South America and Europe. However, he acknowledged via email that building these ads, with the custom interactions they require, can still be an “extensive” process.
So this fall, the company will be launching the aforementioned store, where it will sell “pre-designed and pre-coded Adtile Motion ads,” allowing advertisers to just plug their own designs and media assets into an existing ad. As Forsblom wrote:
So in essence, it lets Adtile developers to create unique Motion Ad interactions, that can later be used by brands and agencies by just incorporating design and storytelling to the flow. So instead of spending a lot of money and time on developing new HTML5 sensor enabled ads, they can simply get them from the store. Adtile has created very specific human interface design and developer guidelines for quality and constraint purposes.
The funding follows the $2.7 million that Adtile raised last year under its old name, TenFarms. The company is not disclosing the investors.