BlueCava

Feb 17, 2016

Qualia Media Raises $5.5M Series B 2/16/16 Qualia Media, the leading SaaS-based marketing technology platform to target audiences based on multiple “consumer intent” signals, today announced it has secured $5.5 million in Series B funding. The round was co-led by existing investor Verizon Ventures, the investment arm of mobile and broadband provider Verizon Communications, Inc. and expansion and growth stage venture firm S3 Ventures. On the heels of announcing Qualia’s merger with BlueCava and further enforcing the company’s position in cross-screen SaaS-based marketing solutions, the funding will be used to grow its fully integrated end-to-end cross-screen marketing solution. “Verizon Ventures looks for passionate, accomplished entrepreneurs whose innovations complement Verizon’s ecosystem of networks, service platforms and distribution channels,” said Mark Smith, Executive Director at Verizon Ventures. “As they combine with BlueCava, there is no question Qualia is driving solutions to marketers’ greatest challenges — from delivering end-to-end cross-channel functionality, to consumers’ expression of intent, to attribution — all under one roof. We’re delighted to have them in our portfolio and look forward to their continued growth.” The new capital allows Qualia, as a newly merged company, to accelerate growth of its intent signal and device graph as well as continue to innovate on its targeting, optimization and attribution solution. The company will also continue to refine its industry-leading data accuracy. The co-led investment signals the support of the merger between Qualia and BlueCava and the company’s vision of an intelligent human-driven, device specific closed loop solution not reliant on cookies or IP targeting and data. “We are particularly excited by the leadership Qualia is showing in forward looking data driven marketing solutions and data accuracy,” said Brian R. Smith, Managing Director at S3 Ventures. “The work the company is doing to deliver the cross-channel marketing stack and scale its graph of commercial intent signals, and do so across all devices, represents the leading edge of progress in this space.” Headquartered in New York City, Qualia is led by the highly accomplished industry veteran Kathy Leake. Leake was previously co-founder and CRO at Dstillery and also spent more than 20 years in senior agency roles at Omnicom, WPP, Ogilvy & Mather and Chiat Day. For the past three years she has served as Qualia’s CEO and grown the company more than 2000% under her leadership. “What we have brought to the market is an incredibly powerful platform that can identify, target and convert buyers who are ‘in market’ for purchase, in real time, across all devices. In order to further empower our brand marketers and agency clients to better analyze both intent and cross-screen behavior — and understand the impact of their actions — we are committing to developing a more holistic and integrated solution,” Leake expanded. “We are thrilled for the continued support of both Verizon Ventures and S3 Ventures as we continue to build a robust solution that can optimize marketing spends for brands across channels.” Progress Partners also provided consulting and corporate advisory to Qualia. With more than $125B in advertising spend moving from offline to online and mobile, Qualia is well positioned to support the growing demand for mobile and cross-screen inventory. The company’s client base includes leading agencies, brands, data tech, and ad tech companies. Qualia’s technology is integrated into all major DSPs, and the company runs campaigns for leading global brands. About Qualia Qualia, a leader in cloud-based intent targeting and cross-screen audience association, empowers marketers with the ability to target and respond to real-time expressions of consumer intent — as well as optimize and attribute performance across all devices. The Intent Quality™ Decision Engine creates a composite of multiple intent signals from a consumer and overlays targeting capabilities to reach a marketer’s most qualified audience. The technology identifies and associates consumers across all of their devices (mobile, tablet, laptop, desktop) and platforms (web, app). Used by leading brands, agencies and solution providers, Qualia’s cross-screen marketing solution follows a consumer’s path of purchase from intent signal to conversion, giving marketers a definitive solution to find the best prospects, accurately optimize spend across devices and maximize ROI. The company is headquartered in NYC and has offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Irvine, San Francisco, Detroit and Boston. For additional information, visit www.qualia-media.com .