Adzerk Raises $11 Million to Fuel Growth of Custom In-House Ad Platforms

Adzerk, whose APIs help clients build custom digital ad platforms, has raised $11 million in funding as part of a Series A round.

With the new funding, Adzerk is rebranding to “Kevel,” while leaning into the burgeoning market for digital companies looking to build, maintain and control in-house ad monetization platforms.

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Specifically Kevel helps a wide range of digital publishers, social networks and e-commerce marketplaces integrate sponsored listings, native ads and internal promotions into their sites and apps. These companies can tap into Kevel’s customizable ad serving APIs without having to lean on inflexible out-of-the-box solutions or spend years building the ad platform themselves.

Among the investors participating in this round are Fulcrum Equity, Commerce Ventures, Math Capital, Food Retail Ventures and multiple angels.

Founded in 2010, Kevel has long helped digital companies build and manage their own ad platforms, as an alternative to relying on programmatic-focused ad servers managed by industry giants like Google. In addition, Kevel has spent years building out sophisticated APIs, making it easy for clients to design the exact ad product they want for displaying any type of sponsored content.

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Now, as a growing number of digital businesses are looking for more freedom and ownership of their ad tech stack – or incorporate advertising for the first time – these companies are increasingly looking to develop custom, in-house monetization solutions rather than simply plugging into existing third-party ad tech tools.

“The digital economy is booming, Most big established digital retailers or communities who want to roll out their own custom ad product don’t want to make any compromises,” said James. “Their audience connection is everything, so they want to maintain a great user experience. At the same time, it’s hard for them to justify the resources and thirty engineers to build out that in-house ad platform. Kevel gives them the best of both worlds – the ability to build custom ad products in just weeks – delivering a brand new revenue stream.”

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