Smart TV Adtech Firm MNTN Raises $119 Million As Streaming Explodes
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
- Investment giants BlackRock and Fidelity led the funding for “Mountain,” which has offices in Culver City and helps brands advertise through TV streaming apps.
MNTN, an adtech company specializing in the growing connected TV or “smart TV” market, has raised $119 million in a Series D funding round co-led by BlackRock and Fidelity.
Funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and Fidelity collectively invested $110 million, MNTN (pronounced “Mountain”) said Tuesday. The company—which is headquartered in Austin, Texas but has an office in Culver City—had previously raised more than $82 million, according to PitchBook data, from investors including Baroda Ventures, Greycroft Partners, Mercato Partners, Qualcomm and Rincon Venture Partners.
MNTN sells software that lets brands buy connected TV ads and track their performance in real time. The company expanded into the creative process last year when it acquired actor Ryan Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Marketing, the advertising agency behind viral ads for Match and Mint Mobile. Reynolds is now MNTN’s chief creative officer.
Connected TVs, also known as smart TVs, feature streaming apps that allow viewers to access services like Netflix and Hulu directly through their television. The connected TV ad market grew nearly 60% last year, to $14.4 billion, as consumers continued to ditch traditional cable for online streaming, according to Insider Intelligence. There was also more advertising space available thanks to the launch and expansion of ad-supported streaming services, such as NBCUniversal’s Peacock and ViacomCBS’s Paramount+.
MNTN claims its platform makes running connected TV ads as simple as advertising through online search engines or social media, allowing clients to reach audiences at streaming networks including CNN, Discovery+, ESPN, Hulu and Food Network. With its recent acquisitions of Maximum Effort and video creation platform QuickFrame, the firm now offers creative production services, as well.
In a statement, MNTN CEO Mark Douglas said the company “could not ask for a bigger vote of confidence” than the backing of BlackRock and Fidelity, two of the world’s largest institutional investors. The Series D round will help MNTN invest in its “platform, products and people,” CFO Patrick Pohlen added.
Christian Hetrick is dot.LA's Entertainment Tech Reporter. He was formerly a business reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and reported on New Jersey politics for the Observer and the Press of Atlantic City.
