AppNexus became a foundational technology provider for programmatic advertising, offering a suite of tools that let buyers and sellers trade ad inventory at scale. Its product set combines ad exchange services, a demand-side platform, supply-side tooling, ad serving and Yieldex analytics giving publishers and advertisers precise control over yield and performance. Built by veterans of Right Media and DoubleClick, AppNexus focused on low-latency auctions, transparent marketplace economics and strong data integrations. The platform was widely adopted by ad tech buyers, publishers, and strategic partners seeking an open, extensible alternative to closed, walled-garden ad stacks.
What Is AppNexus and What Does It Do?
AppNexus, founded in 2007 by Mike Nolet, is a New York City–based (United States) adtech company that provides programmatic trading infrastructure for buyers and sellers of digital advertising. The platform offers SSP, DSP, ad exchange, ad server and analytics tools that enable publishers to monetize inventory and advertisers to reach audiences at scale.
AppNexus employs 925 people and serves large publishers, agencies and brands with enterprise-grade programmatic technology. Its focus is on speed, transparency, and interoperability enabling customized trading strategies, real-time bidding, and incrementally improving yield through analytics and machine learning.
How Much Funding Has AppNexus Raised?
1. Series F
- Amount Raised: $31M
- Date: September 30, 2016
- Lead Investors: News Corp, Philippe Corrot
- Motivation: Accelerate international growth and expand marketplace capabilities.
2. Series F
- Amount Raised: $62.7M
- Date: April 01, 2015
- Lead Investors: Strategic investors and growth funds
- Motivation: Scale infrastructure and engineering for high-volume programmatic auctions.
Total Funding Raised: $319 Million
Current Valuation: $1.2 Billion (as of Aug 18, 2014)
Latest Funding Date: September 30, 2016
Key Investors
1. TCV
- Details: Growth investor backing technology-led companies at scale.
- Investment Focus Areas: Marketplaces, adtech, SaaS.
- Notable Investments: Facebook (late secondary exposure), Spotify, Netflix, Zillow, Expedia.
2. TriplePoint Capital
- Details: Specialized in venture lending and growth investments for tech companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Tech growth capital, lending to startups.
- Notable Investments: Palantir (debt/secondary), Notion, Carta, Workato.
3. FJ Labs
- Details: Early-stage and strategic investor focused on marketplaces and network effects.
- Investment Focus Areas: Marketplaces, consumer platforms, adtech.
- Notable Investments: Airbnb (early conns), MercadoLibre, Delivery Hero, Invoca.
Where Is AppNexus’s Headquarters?
AppNexus is headquartered in New York City, United States, a central hub for advertising, media agencies and publisher partnerships.
What’s Next for AppNexus?
Even as the adtech landscape consolidates, the core platform technologies—low-latency auctions, open exchanges and publisher yield tools—that AppNexus developed remain relevant. Future focus areas historically included privacy-compliant targeting, server-side streaming, and deeper integrations with publisher analytics to maximize programmatic revenue.
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