Liberty Global invests $7.5m in Samba TV
April 11, 2018
By Colin Mann
In a move aimed at helping next-generation TV data company Samba TV to develop new TV audience products utilising viewing data and fuel further international expansion, Liberty Global, the world’s largest international TV and broadband company has invested $7.5 million in the operation.
Samba will use the funding to expand its TV audience platform footprint and bring essential TV insights making audiences more addressable and measurable for agencies, brands and broadcasters across the world.
The investment concludes Samba’s latest funding round. In 2017, the company secured Series B financing from Union Grove Venture Partners, Time Warner, Disney, Interpublic Group, MDC Ventures, A+E Networks and others. Samba was also selected in 2017 by The Walt Disney Company as a Disney Accelerator company.
Samba’s proprietary video content recognition technology is integrated across 12 leading Smart TV brands in millions of televisions across more than 40 countries. By helping consumers find content they love and offering a series of content recommendation services, Samba was the first company in the world to develop multi-touch attribution models based on connected TV data.
This means that Samba’s audience and analytics solutions combine TV viewership behaviors with online behaviours and other household data, subject to customer consent. This enables programmers and advertisers to gain a more holistic understanding of TV audiences and consequently reach their target audiences more effectively and efficiently.
As part of the deal, Samba will endeavour, with support from Liberty Global, to secure adoption of the company’s audience-based advertising platform and marketing attribution solutions in global markets. As a result of the advertising solutions provided by Samba, TV viewers benefit by being shown adverts that are more relevant to their lives and their interests.
“The television markets in Europe are ready for the next generation TV experience and business model built on better data and greater personalisation for consumers,” suggests Ashwin Navin, CEO and co-founder of Samba TV. “Our work with Liberty Global and its partners, will enable us to reach even more clients interested in rolling out pioneering audience-based advertising models – and deliver those clients even more effective cutting-edge products and solutions.”
“Samba are true pioneers in the field of advanced advertising and we’re excited to be working with them as they expand their business in Europe,” declared John Paul, MD, Advanced Advertising and Data, Liberty Global, adds: John Paul, MD, Advanced Advertising and Data, Liberty Global. “We look forward to working together to match their market-leading expertise in targeted advertising and consumer insight with the reach of our best-in-class broadband and video services.”