OptAd360 operates on the advertising space sales market in the programmatic model. In its first year of operation, it closed with EUR 1.6 million (USD 1.9 million) in revenue, and it now reaches 25 million internet users from 231 countries. This is an impressive result, especially since the company was founded in early 2016.
At the beginning of its operations, it served 82 clients. At present, that number has grown to more than 500 websites. The dynamic development is best confirmed by the numbers. Comparing the corresponding first months of 2017 and 2016, they achieved revenue growth of 218%! The founders, Jakub Szczepankowski and Jarosław Wisłocki, are achieving further successes, and the numbers are truly impressive.
On the podium
The company's development is inextricably linked to the rapid growth of interest in the programmatic model worldwide. In Europe this year (2017), in the display advertising segment, spending on programmatic advertising will already account for 58% of advertising budgets (Zenith data). That is an increase of 7% compared with the previous year. This is reflected in OptAd360's operations, which at the very beginning recorded 450 million ad requests. It has now reached more than 2 billion and reaches more than 25 million internet users, which puts it in first place with the largest reach in Poland (May 2017 data - DoubleClick Ad Exchange).
Strengthening activities on the domestic market and expanding the team to 21 employees allowed for intensive expansion into foreign markets. For this purpose, foreign experts from Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, Turkey and India were hired. Further hires are planned. Even today we can speak of a great success.
Where did the business idea come from?
“When programmatic appeared, we concluded that this is a product we know well and we know that we monetize internet websites best. At the same time, the service has global potential, so we gave up secure employment because we are convinced that we can build a great company with global reach,” comments Jakub Szczepankowski. “So far, together with the team, we have been achieving our goals with astonishing effectiveness. According to plans, the first half of 2017 should close with revenue of about EUR 1.5 million (USD 1.7 million), expansion of the team to 28 people and service for more than 600 websites,” he adds.
OptAd360 helps website publishers monetize their sites. It also actively supports promotion of the market and its development, as well as education of publishers in the programmatic model. Thanks to OptAd360, small and medium-sized publishers can earn from ads that until now were reserved only for the largest media groups.
Terms from the article
Advertising expenditure — AdSpend — the advertising market. The total value of media buying in a given period, broken down by channel: television, internet, outdoor, radio, press, cinema.
Why it matters: A point of reference for your own budget and the basis for discussing share in the category's advertising market.
When it is used: In annual planning, competitor analysis, budget discussions with the board.
What omitting it risks: Without market data, “we increased the budget by 10%” means nothing — if competitors increased theirs by 30%, share of voice fell.
