Dear ,
Founded in 2008, with technology originally developed at Surrey University, Mirriad is a leading provider of NIVA (Native In-Video Advertising) services to brands and agencies looking to address the growing challenges presented by ad skipping and ad blindness.
A video of the company’s offering can be seen here.
The Market
It is estimated that over $95bn was lost to ad skipping in 2014, a practise which is growing rapidly. Approximately 56% of all pre-roll ads were skipped in 2013 and it is forecast that this will rise to 70% within the next five years. Brands and agencies are therefore looking to place their messages inside the content itself through native advertising.
Through its integrated platform, Mirriad intends to directly address $30bn of this total market
- Where consumers often skip ads that interrupt their shows, Mirriad’s NIVA solution places the brands within the show
- Where broadcast and digital networks often struggle to open up primetime inventory to fulfil advertising demand, Mirriad opens up new advertising slots and generates more revenue in the process
- When product placement is a one-off chance for content owners to sell advertising real estate, Mirriad can monetise content across multiple platforms and geographies.
The Technology
Mirriad claims to have the most integrated set of solutions to this most contemporary of advertising challenges. Other players have single technology solutions, Mirriad offers a holistic end-to-end platform that currently appears unique. The company owns IP and proprietary know-how in areas ranging from the ingestion of content, the creation of media inventory and the planning of campaigns to management rights, approvals and post-campaign analytics.
So far, the company has invested more than $20m on its technology and over 100 man-years in software development time in areas such as computer vision.
The Model
The company monetises professionally produced content across multiple distribution platforms. It receives 20% of gross campaign spending, with average campaigns running between $50k-$1m.
It has significant brand and agency relationships, having built campaigns with such as J&J, GM, Samsung and Coca Cola.
The company also has an extensive distribution and content network through distribution broadcast deals with such as Sony, RTL, Discovery and on-line with VEVO.
Finally, the company has content partnerships with producers such as Universal Music Group, Sony TV, Sony Music, RTL and Zee.
It is estimated that Mirriad currently reaches an audience of over 1 billion viewers.
The Team
The executive team has extensive strategic and operational experience in building growing global businesses in technology, media, advertising and entertainment.
Mark Popkiewicz, CEO, has built and exited two prior businesses and held senior leadership roles at Lucent and the BBC.
David Dorans, CFO, Previously CFO of Mindshare, prior to that he was CFO of YouView, Head of Distribution and Broadcast Technology at Channel 4, General manager of UKTV and Project Manager at BBC Worldwide.
Roger Faxon, Chairman, was formerly the CEO of EMI. He is a seasoned media executive with years of experience in the media, technology and entertainment businesses, with leadership roles at EMI, Columbia/Tri-Star and ITV.
The Investment Case
The lead Investor is IP Group and Unilever Ventures have a small position alongside a number of legacy investors.
The company has invested significantly in its technology platform, its scale-up capacity and its commercial network. The leadership team has strong and relevant credentials. It appears poised to significantly exploit its well-placed market position. We are optimistic about its chances for success and are particularly content to be participating within such a strong investor group.
In October 2016 Keith Weed, the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Unilever described Mirriad as “As a brand that is particularly impressive in its simple yet brilliantly innovative use of technology.”
