Greystripe, the mobile brand and game advertising network has secured $2 million in an extended series C funding round from General Electric and NBC Universal’s Peacock Equity Fund. The startup originally raised $5.5 million in the series C round in March from Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, Incubic Venture Capital and Monitor Ventures.
Greystripe has raised a total of $17.6 million in funding since the company’s launch in 2006. Greystripe’s Founder and CEO Michael Chang tells us that the most recent funding will be used to expand the company’s sales team and efforts to work with publishers. Greystripe capitalized on strong growth in its mobile content distribution and monetization business, particularly with the iPhone.
Greystripe recently started to integrate mobile-centric ad campaigns with industry-accepted online media buying software. This integration allows for ad agencies to easily add mobile ads with one click and also allows for Flash advertisements to appear on the iPhone (a proprietary technology that Greystripe developed). Ads can be used for both online and mobile purposes.
Greystripe is trying to integrate mobile ad campaigns into online ad budgets as part of a greater brand strategy. Greystripe has partnered with several brands and companies, including Kia, Axe Unilever, Jeep, Paramount Pictures, and JC Penney to leverage the mobile ad market. According to Greystripe, Unilever Axe saw a 15% brand lift. Greystripe also partnered with Universal Pictures (owned by NBC Universal) for an iPhone ad campaign the movie, “A Perfect Getaway,” which was distributed by studio. Greystripe says that 8% of users who viewed the entire ad experience clicking through to view the trailer. Competitors to Greystripe include VideoEgg and AdMob, which recently acquired AdWhirl.
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