MediaCrossing Closes $6mm USD Series A Financing by Leading Financial Technology Innovators
Stamford, Connecticut – Madison Avenue received an accountability, efficiency and liquidity boost today with the launch of MediaCrossing, a global independent digital media trading firm that is reinventing media buying and selling. At launch, the company offers trading execution and client facilitation services from its proprietary, innovative managed MX Platform™ for the benefit of publishers, marketers and agencies.
MediaCrossing is the brainchild of founders William A. (“Bill”) Lederer, MediaCrossing’s Chairman and CEO, a former Wall Street and Madison Avenue senior executive, and Ted Yang, MediaCrossing’s CTO and former Wall Street senior technologist.
The company’s launch is supported by a $6 million USD Series A equity financing round from Minder Cheng, Daniel Tierney, Steve Schuler, Jerry Putnam, Connecticut Innovations and Rialto Bridge Partners. At launch, the company has secured 18 clients and has 16 full-time employees.
“The digital media ecosystem is scaling more quickly than anyone imagined, thus creating both challenging new problems and opportunities. As a trader, MediaCrossing delivers optimized results for its business partners while reducing inefficiency, increasing transparency, and improving ad inventory eCPMs and sell through,” said MediaCrossing Founder and CEO Bill Lederer.
Lederer added, “The global market for programmatic digital media, in particular, is exploding, yet buyers and sellers gain nowhere near the economic and workflow benefits they should expect from automated trading. MediaCrossing is built to better bridge the market for display, video, social and mobile tradeable ad inventory. Other media channels will follow.”
“Large scale real-time bidded electronic trading is a proven method of increasing market efficiencies in financial and commodity markets around the world,” said Jerry Putnam, MediaCrossing Board member and investor, and former Vice Chairman, President and Co-Chief Operating Officer, NYSE Group. Previously Putnam was Founder and CEO of the electronic trading exchange, Archipelago, which was sold to NYSE. Putnam added, “What MediaCrossing is building as an efficient enabler of real-time bidded digital media trading is both innovative and much-needed and will transform media trading.”
Lederer is a former divisional CEO and C-level global digital media operating and strategy executive with Kantar, WPP’s media, marketing and data services division. Previously, Board member, WPP Digital, Kantar Digital, and Rewards Network, Lederer has had C-level roles at TNS, Getty Images, Art.com (Founder), and Minotaur (Founder). Yang was formerly Managing Partner, Stamford Innovation Center, has held technology leadership roles at investment firms Tudor, Bridgewater, Citadel and Salomon Smith Barney, and founded several startup companies including ChemPacific Corporation, Connex International and Epiomed Therapeutics.
Digital media and marketing industry analyst Jeff Zabin of IT market researcher Gleanster recently reported on the emergence of the independent digital media trader as an important new industry category. Regarding MediaCrossing Zabin offered, “MediaCrossing is reinventing programmatic digital media and proving that combining financial services best trading practices, the right mix of data and technology, and proven Madison Avenue and Wall Street talent can deliver huge rewards for buyers and sellers at the same time.”
About MediaCrossing
Powered by its proprietary MX Platform™, MediaCrossing is the independent digital media trading firm reinventing media buying and selling. The company was founded to bridge buyers and sellers easily, effectively and efficiently. MediaCrossing delivers exceptional value, execution, transparency and liquidity in tradeable ad inventory for publishers, marketers and agencies. Unlike other marketplace players, MediaCrossing may take principal positions on behalf of publishers, marketers and their agencies, thus assuming the risk of unsold inventory for the benefit of its partners. A world-class team of hands-on employee-owners leads the company with proven, successful and relevant Madison Avenue and Wall Street business, technology and marketing experience in the U.S. and EMEA. Headquartered in Stamford, CT, MediaCrossing is funded and advised by some of the world’s leading media, marketing and trading innovators, as well as Connecticut Innovations and Rialto Bridge Partners. Learn more atwww.MediaCrossing.com. Follow MediaCrossing on LinkedIn and Twitter.
