TVision secures $16m investment led by iSpot
November 16, 2022
TVision, a company measuring TV and CTV viewer engagement, has closed an investment round of $16 million (€15.3m) for the continued transformation and modernisation of accurate, person-level panel measurement. The round was led by a strategic investment from iSpot, the real-time TV measurement company and new currency provider, along with continued support from SIG Capital, Accomplice and Golden Ventures.
The new round brings TVision’s total funds raised to over $58 million.
The strategic investment includes expanded licensing terms that make iSpot the only measurement company able to utilise co-viewing to accurately personify CTV audiences for ratings across 900+ streaming apps and publishers using TVision’s proprietary streaming audience panel. The investment builds on a long-standing relationship between iSpot and TVision to measure co-viewing and person-level metrics for linear TV and will support iSpot’s trusted, cross-platform currencies for all video. As a part of the investment, iSpot CEO and founder Sean Muller will join the TVision board.
“The $90 billion TV and CTV marketplace cannot transact on methods developed decades ago and expect to give today’s advertisers real visibility into how multiscreen TV drives their very modern brand KPIs. The industry needs ever-more investment in new technologies capable of capturing the reach, engagement, and audience insights that boost advertiser confidence in escalating their ad investment with multiscreen TV publishers,” said Sean Cunningham, CEO & President of the VAB. “We applaud the work iSpot and TVision have done to advance the industry and are encouraged by the investments each is making to develop more accurate and representative cross-platform measurement capabilities.”
TVision’s modern approach to person-level measurement, its ability to detect over-the-air households for smart TVs, and remove bias from census-level data sets have made it the preferred calibration panel for alternative currency providers.
“Combining iSpot’s massive panel with TVision’s modern approach to counting real people helps advertisers measure co-viewing across linear and CTV with greater accuracy across households and diverse audiences,” said Kelly Abcarian, EVP, Measurement & Impact at NBCUniversal. “A cross-platform currency, based on the exact ad and powered by fast and accurate co-viewing metrics, will also bring a completely new approach to valuing premium content.”
“This partnership is a step towards accurately counting every individual in front of the TV screen,” said Andrea Zapata, EVP of Ad Sales Research, Measurement, and Insights at Warner Bros Discovery. “TVision’s modern measurement approach is more precise in identifying who is in front of the screen. With investments towards panel growth and the inclusion of multiple tv sets in a household, there is a real possibility of having a representative panel that relies less on additional panel(s) for calibration.”
“Future video currencies that leverage both census and panel data will provide the industry with a more accurate understanding of who is really watching TV regardless of how that content gets to the screen. TVision has pioneered a new approach and put the infrastructure in place to transform how co-viewing and personification of audiences work for the TV industry,” commented TVision CEO, Yan Liu. “Together with great customers and the latest strategic investment round from iSpot, we’re positioned to help fuel a new, more transparent, and open TV ecosystem.”
“Our investment in TVision is an investment in the future of CTV and cross-platform TV currencies,” said iSpot CEO and Founder, Sean Muller. “We applaud the innovations of TVision in building the home panel of the future, and are looking forward to more advancements from TVision fuelled by our investment.”
TVision said the new funds raised will support its continued growth of CTV measurement products designed to support the industry’s understanding and ability to capitalise on changing viewer behaviours and the rapidly emerging CTV opportunities.