Honeycomb and Group IMD made an announcement in December that could change the future of video advertising forever and give its early Shadow Foundr investors a massive uplift in the coming years.
The new company has an enterprise valuation of £150m and is targeting a 6x increase in share value for all Shadow Foundr investors, over the next 3 years.
Aside from bringing the future of TV advertising into our living rooms, the collaboration has de-risked the proposition for early investors and places the new entity firmly in the frame for a trade sale or listing in the coming years.
Currently, digital advertising has an advantage over TV advertising, due to audience targeting, more accurate data, and the ability to assess if adverts are effective. While this is positive for digital, TV broadcasters have sought the same advantage, but have to date, been unable to achieve it.
Now, Honeycomb and Group IMD have joined forces to provide a solution to this problem, enabling TV advertisers to target their specific audiences and create far more efficient ad-campaigns, just like the digital world.
The strategic importance of this deal to the sector the new company is disrupting, cannot be under-estimated. The merged business will allow customers from more than 100 countries to utilise revolutionary technology, with the aim to create video advertising across TV, online and VoD platforms that is programmatic, addressable, and personalised.
This means that content creators and advertising agencies can rest assured that their videos are being transmitted at the right time, to the right people, for the right cost and with the utmost effectiveness.
Working in more than 100 markets with over 35 local offices, Group IMD’s worldwide presence across Europe, Asia Pacific, Australasia, the Middle East, and Latin America is changing the way advertising works.
The company has a host of blue-chip clients and was identified as the perfect partner for Honeycomb, whose video fulfilment platform was built to power a programmatic, data-driven future and has already attracted big networks including Sky TV and Channel 4.
Overall the merger is not just exciting news for the industry, but it’s also fantastic news for the 20 odd Shadow Foundr investors who bought shares in mid-2016, with management of the new entity, extremely bullish about the company’s prospects moving forward.
Shadow Foundr raised around £300k for Honeycomb. To browse our current opportunities, please click here.