Anzu completes $48 million Series B for in-game advertising solution
Anzu completes $48 million Series B for in-game advertising solution
The Israeli startup’s intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse, aims to help advertisers reach audiences programmatically in a non-disruptive and engaging way
Anzu, which develops an intrinsic in-game advertising solution, announced a $48 million Series B funding round on Tuesday.
The funding round was led by Emmis Corporation, one of America’s most respected media, sports, and entertainment companies, with additional investments from PayPal Ventures, Evolution, Simon Equity Partners, and Bandai Namco Entertainment 021 Fund, a corporate venture arm of a Japanese multinational entertainment company, Bandai Namco Entertainment. Existing Anzu investors include Sony Innovation Fund, NBCUniversal, WPP, Bitkraft, Samsung Next, Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment (HBSE) Ventures, Axel Springer and Marquee Ventures — the venture capital fund anchored by the parent company of the Chicago Cubs.
Anzu, which has raised a total of $65 million to date, employs 100 people, including 65 in Israel.
Anzu’s intrinsic in-game ad solution for mobile, PC, console, and the metaverse aims to help advertisers reach audiences programmatically in a non-disruptive and engaging way. The company helps game developers monetize their titles with ad placements that complement the gameplay, and by monetizing the entire game session, they benefit from consistent and reliable revenue streams.
“We are thrilled to close our Series B funding round and bring some exciting new investors on board,” said Itamar Benedy, Co-Founder and CEO of Anzu. “We are confident that in-game advertising has the potential to be a multi-billion dollar market, and Anzu is perfectly positioned to take advantage of this huge opportunity. Over the past year, we have achieved some significant milestones towards our vision, and have connected with more exclusive AAA games and premium content, expanded our measurement capabilities for advertisers, and secured patents for our unique intellectual property.”
On the new funding, Emmis Corporation Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Smulyan said: “In-game advertising is ready to become the next major advertising category as marketers connect their brands with billions of cloud, PC, console, and mobile gamers worldwide. We look forward to partnering with Anzu as it delivers the technology and business system to make in-game advertising a large part of every marketer’s media buying plans.”
