US-based advertising targeting company Invidi Technologies has extended its series D round to $49m by adding New York-listed pay-television company DirecTV as an investor.
Invidi initially closed its D round in May 2010 at more than $23m but David Downey, chief executive of the company that has raised more than $110m since launching in 2000, said it had now “completed its $49, D round of financing with a final investment from DirecTV”.
Previously announced participants in the round were online search engine Google, GroupM, a unit of advertising agency WPP, phone maker Motorola, credit checking company Experian, television broadcaster NBC, phone operator Verizon and venture capital firms Menlo Ventures, InterWest Partners, EnerTech Capital, Westbury Equity Partners and BDC Capital.
Invidi’s Advatar software will be rolled out this year inside all DirecTV digital video recorder set-top boxes.
Last year, Invidi was granted three patents for various functions underlying its addressable advertising system.
Romulo Pontual, DireTV’s chief technology officer, said: “With Invidi-enabled DirecTV set-top boxes, advertisers will have a unique platform to deliver relevant messages directly to consumers in a highly targeted and flexible way.”