Mogae Media’s Sandeep Goyal buys 10% stake in ad-tech startup Sync Media

Mogae Media chairman and former founder chairman of Japanese advertising major Dentsu India Sandeep Goyal has picked up a 10% stake in ad-tech platform Sync Media.

According to a press statement, the transaction valued the company at a pre-money valuation of $3 million (Rs 19.5 crore). As part of the deal, Goyal’s daughter, Carol, will join the Sync Media board.

Established in 2017 by media professional Anubhav Sharma and former Nimbuzz CEO Vikas Saxena, Sync Media is an ad-first technology platform that measures, segments and offers targeted audiences to brands.

The company claims to use advanced acoustic fingerprinting technology to index every programme and advertisement across 300-plus broadcast and cable network in real-time to identify the right timing and environment for the placement of a brand advertisement.

“Our systems sensitise us to what is really trending on TV, who is watching what, when and for how long. We use this knowledge to help advertisers to reach (out to) consumers based on media consumption preferences…We can (also) sync a mobile ad campaign or a Facebook campaign in real-time with the TV media plan of a brand. This gives brands higher sales conversions through contextual targeting,” said Sync Media director Saxena.

The company plans to take its offering to South East Asia by the year-end, after an all-India rollout.

“Synching of television and mobile is an area that excites all brands and digital planners. It gives both enhanced relevance and enhanced conversion to brand campaigns. From my very many years of evangelising the mobile as an advertising medium, I think Sync Media will be at the forefront of technology in the days to come,” said Goyal.

Goyal, who had launched Mogae Media in 2012, had announced his plans to invest Rs 100 crore in digital media and mobile innovation startups in India.

In 2016, Mogae Media had acquired personalised video platform Ao1 from ad-veteran Ashish Dabral, a former chief executive of Dentsu Marcom, in a share-swap deal.

In 2015, Goyal had formed a joint venture with German startup Zeotap to create a programmatic advertising platform for targeted advertising on smartphones.

21st Century Fox-owned broadcaster Star India Pvt Ltd had picked up a minority stake in Bengaluru-based media-tech company Zapr Media Labs, which happens to be direct competitor to Sync Media in India. The Economic Times had reported that Star India might invest $8-10 million in the startup as part of primary and secondary investment. The investment follows a strategic partnership between OTT platform Hotstar and Zapr.