Online ad network Komli receives $7 million in funding

Komli will use the funds to double its employee strength and invest in new technologies

Online advertising network Komli has received funding of $7 million (about Rs 28 crore) from investment firm Nexus Capital and co-investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and Helion Ventures.

Online ad network Komli receives $7 million in funding

Komli assists advertisers such as Naukri, MakeMyTrip and the Times Group in making their online campaigns more effective by choosing from the more than 1,500 Indian and global publishers or websites that are a part of Komli's ad network.

Amar Goel

Speaking to agencyfaqs!, Komli's founder and CEO, Amar Goel, says, "The funding will go towards doubling the size of our team, which is currently 30. We will also be investing in data mining technologies and algorithms which will help advertisers predict customer behaviour. We will roll out these new products this year."

Suvir Sujan, managing director at Nexus Capital, says, "We think ad networks will play an important role in growing the industry, especially networks that differentiate with tools like PubMatic." PubMatic is a platform for publishers and online ad networks such as Google AdSense and Yahoo! Publisher Network.

Komli already offers behaviourial targeting advertising options for online marketers, which Goel says help them "in trying to reach demographics in a targeted way by providing a rich profile of the user". For instance, a surfer who visits websites aimed at children and gaming sites may be identified as a young male and be targeted with appropriate ads.

Goel adds that the Search RePlay product that Komli offers advertisers is doing well. The product enables advertisers to combine their display and search ad campaigns. He says Komli's client, MakeMyTrip, saw conversions go up 10 times since it began using Search RePlay.

Though this is the first round of official funding Komli has announced, it received an undisclosed amount in seed funds from DFJ and Helion Ventures in April 2007.

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