LiquidM puts the 'tech' back in ad tech: Raises $5M for a white-label mobile ad management platform

Mobile ad companies face many problems today, from figuring out the best way to run campaigns on small screens, to managing how they target potential viewers. LiquidM, a stealth ad tech company launching today, believes that a lack of adequate tools is also holding mobile ad firms back.

Today LiquidM is launching its white-label mobile ad management platform, an all-in-one solution that lets ad firms manage and optimize their campaigns. The company also announced that it has raised $5 million in a first round of funding from Blumberg Capital, Earlybird, and Asset Management.

“I was surprised by how unprofessional the software delivery model is in the mobile ad tech space,” said founder and chief executive Christof Wittig in an interview with VentureBeat. “I looked at it and saw that many of these guys [ad tech firms] were claiming a lot and delivering very little.”

LiquidM’s platform provides just about everything a mobile ad firm needs, including an ad server, ident solution (which lets you identify devices and collect data), decision engine (which helps you make smarter campaign choices), and real-time bidding support. All of its tools are presented in a simple user interface that marketers without much digital ad experience can use.

The story of LiquidM is one of opportunity and insight. Its core technology was developed by mobile ad firm Madvertise back in 2008, and it was licensed by Mobilike, where it helped that company become the No. 1 mobile ad firm in Turkey. Madvertise ended up buying Mobilike last year.

Rather than continue to run its core ad businesses and a licensing business for its ad platform, Madvertise ended up selling its technology to Wittig, who saw plenty of potential in making it available to other firms. Madvertise’s investors supported the deal, put up more funds, and LiquidM was born. (Madvertise and Mobilike are now LiquidM customers.)

Wittig considers AppNexus the closest to what his company is offering, though he points out that it’s not as white- labeled as LiquidM, which can be integrated into an ad firm’s existing technology.

The company is already seeing “significant” revenue, Wittig tells me. It also has around 100 customers formally committed.

LiquidM is based in San Francisco, and it has offices in NYC, Berlin, London, and Singapore.