• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, April 1, 2008

Pursuing growth at home and abroad, premium ad network Undertone has received investment in the range of $40 million to $100 million from JMI Equity.

The funds are expected to accelerate product development and research, and further expand Undertone's presence in national and international markets.

In addition, Brad Woloson, a general partner at equity firm JMI, has joined Undertone's board of directors.

"We believe JMI will provide us with the guidance we need to expand our platform and our global presence," said Undertone chief executive Michael Cassidy.

JMI Equity presently has about $1.3 billion invested in the likes of DoubleClick, along with marketing software companies like Blackbaud, Kronos and Unica.

"JMI's expertise in our market is highlighted by its recent investment in DoubleClick," Cassidy said.

Founded in 2002, New York-based Undertone operates an ad network with partners including ESPN.com and Discovery Communications. It currently has offices in seven major U.S. media markets.

A division of Intercept Interactive, Undertone has aspirations as a full-service interactive media and marketing firm.

Last year, it launched a search engine marketing and search engine optimization practice, dubbed Undertone Search. The pay-per-click SEM offering encompasses ads on all major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask.com, and is a fully managed service with Undertone reps managing planning, keyword identification, bid management, tracking and reporting.

Also, to bolster its publishing services, Undertone in January brought on Weather.com executive Peter Green as senior vice president of ad sales. Green held the same title at Weather.com.