Venture Capital Firms

VC Firms, Grotech Ventures and Greenhill SAVP Join in $10 Million Series B Funding for TRAFFIQ

Based in New York City, online media service provider, TRAFFIQ announced that it has closed $10 million in series B funding with new investors, Grotech Ventures and Greenhill SAVP joining the company’s existing investor, Court Square Ventures.

TRAFFIQ is an online media marketplace that provides an end-to-end self service which links ad advertisers together with publishers. TRAFFIQ’s unique platform basically allows both advertisers and publishers to find each other online and always provides maximum returns for users of the marketplace. Since its inception, TRAFFIQ has already acquired accounts from large companies, such as Yellowpages.com and Glam.

As part of the agreement for this round of financing, the managing director of Greenhill SAVP, Brian Hirsch and Grotech’s general partner, Steve Friedrick will join the company’s board of directors.

According to TRAFFIQ’s CEO, Mark Kahn, this current round of funding supports the company’s vision that there need to be changes made in the online ad buying industry. One of these changes that needs to be made is to give ad agencies control of the placement of their ads. Practically all of the ad publishing platforms that are online today do not give advertisers the control of the placement of their ads and this is one of the things that TRAFFIQ plans to change. Furthermore, many publishers have plenty of inventories that are going unsold because of this problem. What makes TRAFFIQ different from other online advertising platforms is that TRAFFIQ has a visual interface that allows both advertisers and publishers to see how the ad can be placed, giving advertisers the full control of ad placement and generating the revenue desired by the publishers.

What makes TRAFFIQ stand out from other networks or exchanges is that TRAFFIQ provides an interface that allows both advertisers and publishers to consolidate planning, RFP distribution, order execution, optimization, and billing. This consolidated interface in short renders full control to the people that need to have that control in their hands — the advertisers and publishers.

According to the Senior Vice President of Corporate Partnerships of media giant, Havas Digital, Marta Martinez, TRAFFIQ definitely delivers what it claims to offer, an end-to-end management platform. Martinez further added that the platform that TRAFFIQ has created gives buyers direct access to all kinds of publishers and is completely transparent, as well as providing access to the control over everything from the planning of placement to actual publication and payment process.

According to Mr. Fredrick, partner at Grotech Ventures and new member of TRAFFIQ’s board of directors, TRAFFIQ has a platform that truly changes the game in the online advertising marketplace. The platform deserves the investment it received because of its transparency and the fact that it allows advertisers and publishers to work with content in real time.

Mr. Hirsch of Greenhill SAVP and newly appointed board member further stated that because TRAFFIQ has automated the buying process in the advertising industry, it has brought relative ease in the market; much like Google did with its search engine.

Grotech Ventures is a vc firm that primarily gives investments ranging from $500,000 to $5 million to early stage companies that are rapidly growing in the technology industry. Grotech Ventures was established in 1984 and has a team that knows what it takes and works to make big things happen. Other companies in Grotech’s portfolio include Advertising.com, ARPU, Aztek, Broadsoft, buySAFE, and others.

Greenhill SAVP was founded in 1998 and joined together with Greenhill & Company. Greenhill SAVP currently manages a fund that is around $102 million for early stage companies in the technology enabled services and business services industries. Greenhill SAVP only invests in companies that are geographically located within the tri-state area of Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Other companies in Greenhill’s portfolio include AllCovered, BD Metrics, Flat World Knowledge, HomeSphere, Pontiflex, and others.

Court Square Ventures is a vc firm that mainly focuses its investments on early stage companies that are in the communications, IT, and media industries. Court Square Ventures aims to have partnerships with entrepreneurs who are passionate about their business and diligent to get their business off the ground. Some other companies in Court Square’s portfolio include BugLabs, Jitterbug, Echo360, Imagine Communication, Market Maker Interactive, Pipeline Trading, and others.

For more information about TRAFFIQ, click here.

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