InMobi acquires California-based AerServ for $90 M to better capture premium mobile programmatic market

InMobi, the popular independent mobile advertising platform, on Wednesday, announced the acquisition of AerServ for $90 million in cash and stock.  With this acquisition InMobi aims to enhance monetisation for publishers globally and further enhance InMobi Exchange, a premium mobile programmatic platform. 

The bigger picture goal according to InMobi is to create the industry’s first mediation platform with a unified programmatic auction for mobile in-app publishers.

Story so far

Founded in 2013 and with offices in Irvine, California, AerServ, is a leading inventory and audience monetisation technology for mobile publishers. The company helps mobile publishers increase revenue through their ad mediation platform, and increase yield by delivering brand-based ads from their 'aerMarket' ad exchange.

With this acquisition, InMobi and AerServ aim to leverage their technology to deliver a platform that goes beyond traditional ad mediation and provides high-quality brand demand. Naveen Tewari, Founder and CEO, InMobi, said in a statement,

This acquisition fits in with our global strategy to bring next generation platforms for premium publishers. That aside, we are two profitable companies combining forces to cement our leadership position in mobile video advertising, and our integrated prowess in this space will help us scale our business in new directions globally.

Sector overview and future plans

Globally, mobile premium publishers seek greater control over advertising revenue and deeper transparency into both the buyer landscape and pricing than what supply-side platforms offer today. These publishers are looking to further scale their advertising revenue using a programmatic exchange, which will bring header bidding into mobile in-app for the first time.

On the demand side, brand advertisers are in need of transparent programmatic platforms of high-quality ad inventory that can be independently verified. It is expected that two-thirds of the world’s digital display advertising will be traded programmatically by 2019 and advertising sold programmatically will increase from $57.5 billion to $84.9 billion over the next two years, growing at an average rate of 21 percent a year.

Together, InMobi and AerServ claim to have over 90 percent viewability and over 70 percent video completion rate, which is more than double the industry benchmark for mobile - helping better meet the demands of today’s brand advertisers when it comes to programmatic spend. AerServ has integrations with over 75 DSPs, exchanges and agencies around the world, enhancing InMobi’s global footprint and together cover a large majority of the Fortune 500 brand buyers.

“We’re excited to join forces with InMobi and grow the mobile advertising and programmatic industry together,” said Josh Speyer, Chief Executive Officer at AerServ. “This will allow us to scale our platforms together across the globe and build a strong business in previously untapped markets such as China and broader APAC.”

With this investment, InMobi’s estimates that its video and programmatic business will account for 35 percent of the overall company revenue and will solidify its leadership position in the mobile video advertising industry in the US. InMobi Exchange scale will increase as AerServ runs more than 90 billion ad opportunities each month and provides access to brand programmatic demand to over 2,000 mobile apps. Talking about future plans and demographics, Naveen CEO, InMobi, also said,

Our combined platforms will bring next-generation mediation capabilities to premium publishers and establish the first programmatic video exchange in India and China. Over the next three years, we expect to increase our brand programmatic revenue tenfold with this acquisition and continue our investments in that direction.

Website- InMobi