India’s Komli raises $39m in Series D round
India-based Komli Media, a provider of online advertising solutions across mobile, video, social networks and search engines, has attracted $39 million in Series D funding from venture capital firms, in a move to expand its presence across Asia.
The latest round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, a global venture capital firm that manages more than $3.7 billion in capital. Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) also participated, alongside one new arrival, Western Technology Investment.
Komli secured its first venture capital funding from these three firms in December 2007, when the company launched a solution combining the features of search and display advertising. One year later, current CEO Prashant Mehta joined the company from Yahoo. Since then, the company has completed several acquisitions in India, Australia and Southeast Asia. Norwest Venture Partners only came on board in 2011, when it led a $15 million Series C round, with Helion also participating.
Komli's revenues have grown at an annual rate of 150% for the last three years. Its advertising platform reaches over 270 million users on a monthly basis and services more than 1,000 advertisers across the region.Headquartered in Mumbai, it employs over 400 staff across 18 offices in India, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Hong Kong, North America and the UK.
"With early investments in superior talent and its innovative platforms, the company has completely transformed its business," says Norwest's Shah. "Today, it is well positioned to capture a much larger share of digital media within some of the fastest-growing markets in the world."
Asia Pacific is currently the fastest-growing media advertising market in the world, with digital advertising set to grow by 30-50% per annum for the next 10 years. Online advertising is expected to expand particularly fast in Southeast Asia, on the back of rising broadband penetration. Broadband has currently only reached 100-125 million of the population, providing ample room for further growth.
The latest financing will allow Komli to scale up its platform and operations across the Asia Pacific region by investing in real-time bidding, a technology that allows advertisers to bid in real-time for placements on pages. It will also enhance the company's data, analytics and retargeting solutions for advertisers, agencies and publishers.
"Audiences are getting more sophisticated, from owning phones to iPads and other gadgets. It is important for marketers to target them in the right manner," Prashant Mehta, CEO of Komli, tells AVCJ. "Having more real-time data can only benefit the advertising market by giving it a wider audience."
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