Retail group Walmart has agreed to acquire Polymorph Labs, a US-based advertising technology developer backed by e-commerce firm Rakuten and marketing firm MDC Partners, for an undisclosed amount.
Founded in 2013 as AdsNative, Polymorph has created a suite of tools that enable companies to specifically tailor their ad campaigns and monetisation strategies to their customers’ preferences.
Polymorph’s team will join Walmart’s in-house advertising business, Walmart Media Group, following completion of the deal.
The company’s technology will help Walmart target audience segments based on their shopping behaviour, automate the delivery of advertising and measure its influence.
Polymorph collected $8.5m in a 2015 series A round that included Rakuten’s corporate venture capital arm, Rakuten Ventures, Interwest Partners and Onset Ventures.
Interwest had previously led the company’s $2m seed round in 2014, investing with MDC Ventures, the subsidiary of MDC Partners then known as KBS+ Ventures, as well as Onset Ventures, the Foundry Group Angels syndicate and angel investors Barry Honig, Mike Kerns and Sourabh Niyogi.