• by Laurie Petersen , October 23, 2007

Online ad network Collective Media will enhance its proprietary ad network platform with a new round of Series A funding led by Greycroft Partners in conjunction with iNovia Capital.

Collective's online network reaches 120 million unique users monthly.

"We are pioneering a new category within the current ad network environment, allowing high-quality brands to maintain brand integrity and exert more control over where their ads appear," said Joe Apprendi, CEO of Collective Media. "These funds allow Collective to continue developing our best-in-class platform, providing our publisher and advertiser clients with the transparent, premium network they have come to expect from us."

Apprendi's background in ad networks began in the mid-90s with ClickNow, which was sold to 24/7.

"We're not reinventing the ad network. We're elevating it," said Apprendi. "There are a lot of people focused on transparency now, but we were built that way first and foremost. We're 100% transparent." "Advertising dollars continue to migrate to the Web, and behavioral targeting is a hot sector," said Alan Patricof, founder and managing partner of Greycroft Partners. "Collective has grown 900% year-over-year."

The investment by Greycroft is significant because Patricof is someone who has deep connections in and an understanding of the media business.

Collective's platform allows advertisers to compare themselves against an entire vertical.

"One of the things we think is going to happen with behavioral targeting is what happened with inventory scrutiny," Apprendi said. "There's not been a lot of scrutiny yet of how you collect the behavioral data."