Innovation Drives TripleLift Expansion & Growth in 2021

TripleLift, one of the fastest growing ad tech companies in the world, is ending an exceptional year of growth and transformation fueled by a move into Connected Television (CTV), net-new initiatives aimed at creating a more responsible ecosystem, key strategic hires, numerous industry distinctions, and the acquisition of the company by Vista Equity Partners. The company’s current position sets it up strongly for continued growth in 2022.

In an industry that has undergone sizable consolidation over the past several years, TripleLift has emerged as one of the few truly scaled digital advertising technology companies with a robust omnichannel marketplace.

Doubling down on its mission statement of “reinventing ad placement one medium at a time,” TripleLift now offers premium inventory beyond its foundational native programmatic products. The company’s omnichannel marketplace solutions consist of CTV, online video, display, branded content and native. Today, over 80% of TripleLift publishers transact on multiple ad formats, the majority of them offering video inventory through the platform. The company has now amassed a marketplace footprint of tens of thousands of websites – giving 100,000+ advertisers access to inventory totaling over 33 billion impressions per month.

TripleLift’s banner year was highlighted by a number of major events and activities.

Acquisition by Vista Equity Partners

In May, Vista Equity Partners closed its acquisition of the company. That newfound support has been a force multiplier to TripleLift’s growth ambitions. Investment has been directed toward international expansion including the company’s move into Singapore in August, and continued technology build out with a focus on new consumer identity products and CTV In-Show solutions.

Emergence in Connected TV

TripleLift prioritized the emerging CTV sector as central to its future growth trajectory. The company is taking a unique, two-pronged approach to CTV advertising by offering standard “In-Break” commercial units and developing ground-breaking “In-Show” formats where brand messages are inserted directly into the programming itself.

Technology Partnerships. In May, TripleLift augmented its partnership with Publica, the leading CTV ad server, by establishing a direct integration to offer TripleLift In-Break ads to CTV publishers, giving them greater control over their inventory and allowing for better yield optimization. In October, the company announced a preferred partnership with server-side ad insertion leader Amagi to scale its In-Show capabilities. Today, advertisers have access to In-Show opportunities in more than 25,000 episodes of premium, long-form television through TripleLift’s marketplace.
Praise for In-Show. The ad industry has taken notice of the company’s growing CTV offerings. Most notably, TripleLift was honored as the Most Innovative TV Advertising Technology at the 2021 AdExchanger Awards, a category where it beat out a number of strong competitors.

Creating a More Responsible Programmatic Ecosystem

As media buyers considered ways to put their spend to use in support of social responsibility, TripleLift deployed Underrepresented Voices (UNREP), a program dedicated to increasing programmatic ad spend with minority-owned publishers. The UNREP initiative packages impressions on over 6,000 minority-owned websites, with representation across Black, Latinx, AAPI and LGBTQ+ communities. In May, TripleLift committed to running those impressions without taking their normal fees in order to maximize the revenue realized by these publishers. And in June, the company announced that WPP’s GroupM, the largest buyer of media in the world, signed onto the program.

Bolstered Senior Leadership Team

TripleLift made several significant moves to strengthen its senior leadership ranks to match its growth.

New Technology Leadership. In July, Jaison Zachariah was elevated to the Executive Leadership team as SVP, Technology and Dan Goldin was promoted to Chief Architect, a new role for the company. Both leaders have grown through the ranks of TripleLift, having joined on the same day in 2013.
Addition to CTV Leadership. In October, the company brought in TV industry veteran Keith Kazerman, formerly of Discovery Networks, as SVP, CTV Revenue. Kazerman was one of many new hires in CTV as the team nearly doubled in size with new members across Product, Marketing and Revenue.
New Operational Leader. Also in October, TripleLift hired Steven Berns in the dual role of CFO & COO. Berns brings a wealth of advertising, technology and public market experience having led operational and financial functions at Shutterstock, Tribune Media, Revlon and Interpublic Group.

Banner Year for Awards & Distinctions

The company’s impressive accomplishments throughout 2021 garnered acclaim from both industry and business outlets.