Smedvig Capital lead $15m Series A investment in Lunio to protect marketers from click fraud, fake users and malicious bots
Today we are excited to announce our investment in Lunio, the leading digital ad protection solution that prevents fake users and malicious bots. The company helps marketers maximize their advertising budgets by identifying and excluding fake, non-human, and zero-value traffic coming from different acquisition channels. Senior leaders in the advertising-technology space from companies including Google and Warner also participated in the $15m Series A round.
Background
Fake and fraudulent ad traffic is a major problem across the digital advertising space, with global losses from ad fraud totalling $35 billion in 2020 alone. To help marketers defeat invalid web traffic and gain more control over their campaign budgets, Lunio uses a combination of data analysis and cybersecurity techniques to catch and block fake clicks at the source. The platform provides coverage for more than fifteen ad networks including Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, Bing, Yandex, TikTok, and Snapchat, with support for non-paid and affiliate channels coming soon.
Customers using Lunio gain a clearer understanding of who is interacting with advertisements on key traffic acquisition channels. By preventing activity from bots, unwanted traffic sources, fraud and malicious publishers, marketers can save money and reinvest it back into their top-performing ad campaigns. Lunio already protects the ad spend of several Fortune 1000 companies running multinational ad campaigns, saving them thousands every month. The funds raised will help Lunio accelerate the development of its technology while supporting further expansion into the EMEA and North American markets.
Why Lunio and Why now?
1. Rapid capital efficient growth across multiple industries and geographies, including the USA
2. Great team with broad technical and commercial experience in both cyber security and marketing, two key capabilities required in this nascent market
3. Large multi-billion greenfield market opportunity that continues to grow as digital advertising gains share of ad budgets
4. Blue chip customers who are delighted with the ROI of the product
5. An evolving product that has developed at pace since we began conversations with Neil in early 2021
Neil Andrew, CEO and Co-Founder of Lunio, commented: “To have raised the largest Series A round in the digital ad fraud space to date is a strong validation of the fraud prevention platform we have developed and its success. This funding allows us to open up significant opportunities for Lunio to gain market share and scale.”
