Only eight months old, the Rubicon Project has already raised roughly $21 million. In fact, today the company announced its latest infusion: $15 million. The investors include: Mayfield Fund, IDG Ventures Asia, Stanford University, University of California Berkeley, Matt Coffin (founder and former CEO of LowerMyBills.com) and Clearstone Venture Partners.
Essentially, the Rubicon Project helps companies manage the complexities of online advertising networks. The system is getting lots of traction, with more than 3,000 websites signing up.
"We are seeing huge demand," said Frank Addante, CEO and Founder, in an interview with me on Friday. "Customers also want a way to benefit from advertising networks in global markets."
I asked Frank about the concerns of a slowdown in online advertising (especially in light of the cloudy economy in the U.S.). His take? Well, he is not seeing a slowdown. "I experienced the downturn in 2001," said Addante. "That was mostly the result of dot-coms running out of money. As of now, things are different because it's traditional companies that are buying online advertising."
Interestingly enough, the genesis of the Rubicon Project's funding came from Frank's trip to Hawaii – which he wrote about it in his blog.
Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook
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