US-based advertising technology company Adchemy completed a $61m round of series E funding financed by Microsoft, together with venture capital firms August Capital and the Mayfield Fund yesterday.
In addition to the equity financing, Adchemy and Microsoft subsidiary Microsoft Advertising have completed the first phase of a collaborative project intended to improve the profitability of paid search engines for online retailers. Adchemy and Microsoft are also looking to expand the use of Adchemy’s IntentMap technology, intended to help Microsoft’s adCenter customers target their advertising more relevantly.
Mayfield and August are long term backers of Adchemy, participating in its October 2009 series D round of funding together with consultancy and outsourcing company Accenture. The round raised $31m. Mayfield and August also funded Adchemy’s $18m series C round, in January 2008.
Adchemy’s series B round, in December 2005, raised $6.3m. Prior to that, financial services firm Sand Hill Capital were among the contributors to Adchemy’s $1m series A round.
Rik van der Kooi, corporate vice president of Microsoft Advertising, said: "Microsoft Advertising is committed to enriching the online ad experience for consumers and helping deliver more effective campaigns and higher [return on investment] for advertisers and agencies. The key to this is to have a deeper understanding of consumer intent so that the ads users see are engaging and relevant."
Van der Kooi continued: "Expanding our relationship with Adchemy brings us closer to this vision by accelerating our ability to deliver Adchemy IntentMap technology to top Microsoft adCenter customers, which will help enable higher performing campaigns."