France-based online advertising platform Criteo has succeeded in raising €30m ($38.7m) in its series D round, with Softbank Capital, the corporate venturing unit of Japan-based Softbank Corporation, as the sole disclosed participant.
The Paris-based firm is now estimated to be valued at $800m following raising $63.4m in venture funding since 2006 when it held its series A. That round was worth $6.6m, and saw participation from private equity firms IDInvest Partners and Elaia Partners. In 2008, the firm announced a series B round with Index Ventures as the sole participant worth $10.4m. Bessemer Venture Partners led Criteo’s series C, worth another $6.36m.
The firm plans to use the new funding to fund its research and development of its online advertising platform. Additionally, as part of the deal, principal at SoftBank Capital Matt Krna will join the Criteo board of investors.
JB Rudelle, chief executive officer and co-founder of Criteo said: “In a period of high-growth for Criteo, this new financing enables us to invest substantially in innovation, technology and people. In addition, we are very excited to leverage the knowhow and footprint of SoftBank and Yahoo! JAPAN for our expansion in Asia, a very strategic region for us. Overall, the fact that such a sophisticated syndicate of investors has decided to join us is a powerful validation of our unique model.”
Criteo has recently signed an exclusive partnership deal with Yahoo! JAPAN for its cost-per-click personalised display advertising.