iSocket builds tools to automate direct-sold online advertising transactions, which the company says can require up to 50 steps to complete. Its product offering includes iSocket for Publishers, used by outlets including TechCrunch, and the newly launched iSocket for Advertisers for agencies and brands. The company announced $5 million in new funding, which it plans to leverage while expanding its product lineup and business development team. CEO Richard Jalichandra, who joined iSocket last fall and previously led Technorati, is leading the company through the product expansion. The company also hired Kevin McCabe, a former Microsoft ad executive, as vice president of business development to support advertiser-facing growth. The article presents the company as focused on streamlining ad sales workflows and broadening its buyer-facing tools. isocket, launched in 2009, provides a programmatic platform and APIs to enable guaranteed purchases of premium display ad inventory. The company built BuyAds.com as an open marketplace and has extended its product set to include BuyAds Pro for large-scale professional media buyers. isocket positions itself to replace manual direct-sales workflows with web apps and APIs, aiming to simplify premium ad buying where realtime bidding and DSPs are not ideal. Its platform claims adoption by more than 1,500 publishers and advertisers, including AOL, Reuters, Gawker, Salesforce, BMW and AppSumo. Recent hires, including CFO Mark Liao from Yahoo, indicate a focus on scaling operations and finance as the company expands product offerings. The business has raised a total of $11 million to date and continues to develop tools to help publishers better monetize premium inventory. isocket has built a commission-free platform that automates selling online ads: advertisers upload orders and content, publishers approve deals, and isocket handles fulfillment while charging a monthly fee instead of taking commissions. The service is intended to make it less time-intensive for publishers to sell ads directly rather than using ad networks; TechCrunch was isocket’s first customer. The product is currently in private beta. The company recently relocated its two-person team to Mountain View, Calif. and says it is looking to expand by hiring salespeople and engineers. The business model centers on subscription fees from publishers rather than percentage-based ad commissions. The company has secured outside capital to support product development and hiring.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2014