Mobile-ad solutions firm SilverPush raises funding

Mobile ad re-targeting platform SilverPush, owned by Gurugram-based SilverEdge Technologies Pvt. Ltd, has raised $5 million (Rs 35 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Japanese marketing technology company FreakOut Holdings, Inc. 

The company said in a statement that the fresh capital will be used to further expand its business globally, including to new markets in the Asia Pacific region such as Hong Kong, Australia, and South Korea. It will also look to increase its artificial intelligence capabilites. In addition, SilverPush will explore the over-the-technology (OTT) space with its newly-launched product, Mirrors, and relaunch another product, Prism, as a platform to monitor brand reputation.

“Since expanding into Southeast Asia in 2018, our business has grown 100% year-on-year with over 30% revenue clocked by our international business,” said Hitesh Chawla, chief executive officer of SilverPush. “With this new round of funding, we expect our global business to contribute to over 50% of revenue, and expect to hit an annual target of $25 million over the next two years.”

SilverPush, a GSF Accelerator-incubated startup, operates in India, Singapore, Asia-Pacific, South Africa, Tanzania, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The SilverPush platform helps deliver personalised ads to mobile devices of users who have displayed interest in particular goods or services.

SilverPush uses AI to improve the engagement between brands and consumers. The company’s latest product, Mirrors, was launched late last year to help contextualise ads when people are viewing video content on their devices.

The company counts a host of prominent brands among its clients including Unilever, Coca-Cola, KFC, Nestlé and Cadbury, according to the information provided on its website.

In 2015, SilverPush had raised Rs 8.2 crore ($1.25 million then) in a pre-Series A round led by M&S Partners, a Japan-based early-stage investor. Existing investors IDG Ventures and 500 Startups had also participated in the round.

Before that, the company raised $1.5 million from IDG Ventures, Unilazer Ventures and Palaash Ventures in 2014. Previously, it raised funding from Palaash Ventures and six other investors.

SilverPush was founded in October 2012 by Chawla, Mudit Seth (marketing chief) and Alex Moon. Seth, from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has worked at AdGlobal360, Wildnet Technologies and Tyroo Media. Before starting SilverPush, Seth co-founded Wiseassist Technologies with Chawla before selling the venture. At Wiseassist, they built a product called Wisetouch, which provided a centralised platform for serving advertisements to outdoor media screens and tablets.

FreakOut is a marketing technology company that develops and sells marketing platforms. Its products include a data management platform used for analysing data, and a demand-side platform for real-time ad-inventory transactions in internet advertising. FreakOut, founded in 2010, is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Yuzuru Honda is the founder and global chief executive of FreakOut.