Following is the press release published by Principia to announce the deal
After becoming the Italian leader among technology suppliers for the delivery of banners and video advertising banners, Neodata Group has raised € 2.5 million in funding from Principia SGR – one of the leading Venture Capital funds in Italy – and is preparing to land abroad.
With more than 130 billion pieces of digital content served and doubling the volume of traffic handled year-over-year, Neodata Group is the only Italian company with an adserving offer for dealers and online publishers. Top Italian publishers, delivering over 10% of the banners that are displayed to Internet users in Italy every day, use the flagship product [ad.agio].
The new editorial support tools developed by Neodata promote a vision of the future of newspapers in which a user-centeredmodel is adopted instead of the current content-centeredmodel. From this point of view, it is essential to monitor the reader's needs in real-time and adapt the editorial content offer as a consequence. Over the years, Neodata has gained extensive experience in the development of user-centeredtechnologies. The new Neopage product, for example, supports work within the newsroom by defining the best placement of stories on the homepage and allowing the publisher to optimize the delivery of digital content in terms of efficiency, revenue and time spent on the site.
Andrea Santagata, founder of Liquida and CEO of Banzai Media, commented: “The Neopage system provides us with valuable real-time statistics that, combined with our editorial policy, allows us to keep readers on our sites longer. Neodata has long been an ideal partner with a team of highly competent professionals and has an innovative concept of the use of technology in support of online publishers.”
Giovanni Giuffrida, founder and CEO of Neodata, said: “I'm really excited about the operation with Principia; this investment will strengthen our position in Italy and accelerate development through a significant staff expansion in coming years and the rapid internationalization of our company. We have just established Neodata's American subsidiary and opened the first office in Los Angeles, which will have a staff of about ten by the end of 2012.”
Andrea di Camillo, a partner of Principia SGR, had this to say about the operation: “Over the years, Neodata demonstrated that it has a very focused team, a clear vision on the future of online publishing and a solid, constantly growing customer base. We are happy to help the company implement its foreign development plans.”
Neodata Group
Present on the Italian market since 2004, with solutions for dealers and online publishers, today Neodata is the reference point for those in the advertising and digital publishing industry who have chosen to focus on technological innovation, experience and passion. From the very beginning Neodata has maintained a personal relationship with its customers by adapting and offering innovative services. With offices in Milan, Catania and Los Angeles, Neodata remains the preferred partner of the top Italian publishers, including Mediaset, La Repubblica, Seat Pagine Gialle, Tiscali and Sipra.
Principia SGR is now one of the major companies operating in the field of venture capital in Italy in terms of assets under management, relying on a total of about 90 million euros, managed through two closed-end funds, called the “Principia Fund” and “Principia II”, with a focus on the local area, especially Central and Southern Italy and typically Italian businesses in terms of skills and creativity. The fund is among the beneficiaries – along with other management companies – of the High Tech Fund resources promoted by the DIT (Department of Innovation and Technology of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers).
