Ozone Media plans to launch video ad network

IDG (International Data Group) Ventures India has invested an undisclosed amount in Ozone Media, a Bengaluru based online ad network. This is the first time that Ozone Media has received any funding from a venture capital fund.

As part of the deal, Manik Arora, founding managing director, IDG Ventures India, and Ritesh Banglani, senior investment advisor, IDG Ventures India, will join Ozone Media as members of the board of directors.

Kiran Gopinath, founder and chief executive officer, Ozone Media, says, “The investment will be used to set up an office in Delhi, expand our sales and technology teams and to reach out to a broader set of advertisers.”

Ozone Media was set up in 2006 and serves ads across various categories such as news, social networking, gaming and entertainment. Dell, ICICI and Arzoo are some of the advertisers which use Ozone Media’s ad network.

IDG Ventures is a global network of venture capital funds. In India, IDG Ventures has invested in the online gaming company, Kreeda Games. Globally, it has invested in firms such as Blue Lithium, a US based online ad agency, and Allyes Ad Network, which is based in China. IDG also publishes more than 300 newspapers and magazines, among them Computerworld, InfoWorld, Macworld, Network World and PC World.

An ad network connects advertisers and publishers. It ties up with advertisers and enables them to get their ads placed on the sites where they expect their target audience to be available, and helps publishers by selling or serving ads on their site. Globally, ad networks account for more than 40 per cent of the display advertising spend on the Internet.