Komli Media raises $30M led by Peepul Capital

Digital advertising technology platform Komli Media India Pvt Ltd has raised $30 million (Rs 185 crore) in its Series E funding led by Peepul Capital besides existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson.

Komli, a digital media-focused technology platform, offers solutions across display, mobile, video, social, search and data for advertisers, agencies and publishers. Its offerings include a real-time-bidding (RTB) performance advertising platform called ATOM that integrates audience data to improve return on investments. The company recently integrated ATOM into Facebook's RTB platform, Facebook Exchange (FBX), making it one of the first adoptees in the region.

Headquartered in Mumbai, the company has over 400 employees across 18 offices in India, Australia, New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Hong Kong and North America.

The fresh capital raised will be used to further invest in its technology platforms and to strengthen the company's presence through integrated go-to-market solutions across the Asia Pacific (APAC) region.

"We have already seen strong adoption of our integrated solution along with algorithmic trading.  With the increased funding, we plan to deepen our focus on innovative technologies, such as RTB, to deliver greater value to our customers," said Prashant Mehta, CEO, Komli Media.

This is the company's fifth investment round and lower in quantum compared to the last funding. In June last year, it had raised its largest round of $39 million from Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Western Technology Investment.

With the latest funding it has scooped close to $100 million to date, according to VCCEdge, the financial research platform of VCCircle.

"With this round of funding, we expect to further capitalise on the massive market opportunity and also accelerate our growth," said, Rakesh Malani, CFO, Komli Media.

Avendus Capital was the lead financial advisor to Komli Media on this transaction.

In March 2013, Komli Media was seen restructuring its leadership teams to further accelerate its growth in the APAC region. As part of the restructuring, Gulshan Verma, the-then managing director of Komli Media's India and North America business, was promoted to the role of chief revenue officer (CRO). Akshay Garg, co-founder of Komli Media and MD for Southeast Asia, was also made global head of strategy and business operations. Later in the year, Malani was brought in as the CFO.  Also, in August this year Amit Bhartiya, MD & VP, mobile advertising, Komli Media quit the company after spending five years with the firm. Though no recent numbers are available, last year in July the company claimed that it reaches over 270 million users monthly and actively services more than 1,000 advertisers across the region.

(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)