engage:BDR Ltd (ASX:EN1) is well-funded after raising $2.37 million through a placement and almost $1.9 million through a strongly supported share purchase plan in December 2020 with the aim of driving growth in the CTV (Connected TV) and advertising realms.
In November 2020, the company signed five new programmatic customers – ad buyers LoopMe, Sonobi and AdMixer; programmatic publisher VRTCALL and video streaming platform TikiLIVE TV - with the new integrations on-track to be live in the near-term.
Through integrations (openRTB) into EN1’s programmatic ad exchange, LoopMe, Sonobi, Admixer and VRTCAL will buy and sell mobile apps and CTV advertising inventory.
These partnerships will provide ENI with buyers (demand) and publishers (supply) from the US and other international geographies.
Sonobi deal
Under an initial one-year term with the New York-based ad tech company, EN1 will provide advertising inventory to Sonobi and its clients through a mutual, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable worldwide licence to transact on its advertising exchanges.
This deal is in addition to a seller integration contract announced in October 2018, in which Sonobi was a publisher to EN1, with the company now also a buyer of EN1 ad inventory.
Some of Sonobi’s main goals include improving browsing experiences and ensuring relevant, high-quality, content that reaches targeted users.
LoopMe deal
ENI also previously entered into a seller integration deal with LoopMe (May 2019) and the UK company is now also a buyer of EN1 ad inventory.
LoopMe specialises in mobile video and rich media, using a powerful combination of attribution, artificial intelligence and analytics to deliver outstanding campaign performance.
Admixer
Similarly, EN1 has had a seller integration deal with Admixer since May 2019.
An independent adtech company, Admixer provides full-stack programmatic solutions for all market players, the company has been developing an ecosystem of interconnected products to meet the needs of both buy- and sell-side.
It now has more than 100 supply and demand partners, and 3,000 plus clients all over the world, and 200 employees.
VRTCAL
Its deal with VRTCAL includes the provision of advertising inventory to EN1 and its clients through a mutual, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable worldwide licence to transact on its advertising exchanges.
VRTCAL is a best-in-class mobile advertising marketplace aiming to reduce the vertical distance between advertiser goals and their targeted mobile audiences.
VRTCAL’s MarketPlace enables developers and publishers to participate with brand advertisers in an efficient model, and likewise for brand advertisers to transparently reach data rich, qualified developers and publishers.
TikiLIVE TV
Under the agreement with TikiLIVE, advertising inventory will be provided to EN1 and its clients through a mutual, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable worldwide licence to transact on its advertising exchanges.
TikiLIVE is an Over the Top (OTT) and IPTV platform development and cloud hosting company that deploys enterprise solutions and is focused on delivering HD streaming video, including both live streaming video and video-on-demand (VOD).
TikiLIVE provides content creators with a comprehensive set of tools for producing and managing their own live and VOD streaming content.
WeatherBug integration
Additionally, the company set up a new programmatic integration with WeatherBug in September, which is a top-3 ranked weather publisher based in the US.
This integration brings ENI direct and incremental access to millions of impressions and unqiue users daily.
The new direct integration provides potential growth in the weather category for in-app and web inventory.
Revenue growth seasonality
Notably, the company increased monthly revenue by A$230,000 or 20% to A$1.43 million for September after ad auction participation bid prices and creative volume all increased during September 2020.
Analysis of granular metrics shows EN1 clients participated in many more auctions (bid-response), responded with significantly more competitive and higher bid prices (eCPM) and submitted exponentially higher volumes of campaigns for approvals in September.
The last metric – number of campaigns - is a strong indicator that brands (multiple) are spending more and launching new campaigns.
engage:BDR expects a similarly strong performance from the fourth quarter, as the advertising industry traditionally expects 65-70% of its revenues in the second half of the year.
