US-based advertising technology provider Cinarra Systems raised $20m in a series B round led by telecommunications company SoftBank yesterday.
Venture capital firm Almaz Capital and private equity firm Siguler Guff & Company also took part in the round. As part of the investment, SoftBank and Cinarra have partnered to bring the latter’s technology to SoftBank’s clients in Japan by launching a targeted advertising platform.
Cinarra operates an advertising and data analytics platform for mobile operators, enabling enterprise customers to use the data they already hold on their customers to deliver more relevant adverts.
The company intends to use the series B funding to hire more product engineers and form agreements with more operators across the world.
Almaz Capital previously led Cinarra’s $4.5m series A round in 2013, investing alongside Cisco Investments, the corporate venturing unit of network equipment maker Cisco.
Alex Zinin, co-founder and chief executive of Cinarra, said: “Our relationship with SoftBank signifies a fundamentally new phase for Cinarra.
“With SoftBank’s investment and partnership, we are in an excellent position to be the first to establish a global platform that is open for mobile operators and advertising platforms in Japan and around the world, enabling them to participate in a new business model that will drive the next phase of growth for the mobile internet economy.
“With this foundation, the opportunities created by the platform will expand beyond the telecom and advertising industries.”