GRO Capital will partner with existing shareholder VIA equity and Adform’s management team to continue the growth as a global independent industry leading company.
Adform reveals this strategic financing against the backdrop of global uncertainty across the advertising ecosystem. The investment enables Adform to offer a transparent alternative to the walled gardens provided by large technology players.
The companies ‘built as one platform’ approach has allowed Adform to create an Integrated Advertising Platform (IAP) which consists of tools supporting the full digital planning process starting with Ad Serving and robust creative, followed by activation through the Demand Side Platform with added targeting and insights possible through the Data Management Platform.
In addition to the investment, Adform also welcomes Lars Dybkjær (Managing Partner at GRO Capital), Lars Lunde (Partner at GRO Capital) and Torben Munch (former CEO of Itiviti Group AB and COO of SimCorp A/S) to the Board of Directors. Munch will also take on the role of Chairman.
Adform also continues its market expansion having opened offices in seven new markets in the last 12 months, including: Dubai, Australia, South Africa, Japan, Estonia, Romania, and China. To date, the company has grown to around 850 employees and operates in 27 countries, expanding to serve global clients and attract new international customers.
“We are very excited about the partnership with GRO Capital and look forward to collaborating to fulfil our joint vision, serving large advertisers, agencies and publishers with our leading software platform across data, creative and trading,” said Gustav Mellentin, CEO and co-founder of Adform. “GRO Capital represents a unique combination of capital and competencies that can support us in our journey to become the leading independent full stack ad tech provider with a global footprint.”
“We have followed Adform for many years and are very impressed with its product and blue-chip customer base, which includes some of the largest advertisers and agencies globally. This investment is perfectly aligned with GRO Capital’s strategy of investing in outstanding technology companies supporting their transformation and growth ambitions,” said Lars Dybkjær, Managing Partner at GRO Capital. “Gustav Mellentin has built a very strong team and assembled a deep bench of highly skilled and ambitious individuals. We really look forward to helping the team build on existing strengths to leverage their position as the leading independent full stack software provider with a high level of transparency, leading data security and privacy standards and strong customer support.”