• October 29, 2008

Access 360 Media, which runs the nation's largest out-of-home media network, has raised $8 million in a second-round funding led by Mission Ventures and including Bessemer Venture Partners.

Based in New York and Los Angeles, the company's network combining in-store, online and mobile media components reaches more than 170 million consumers in 14,000 retail locations each month. It also includes exclusive relationships with the venues where it operates digital video screens targeting young adults.

"As audiences become increasingly fragmented and more difficult to reach via traditional media, such as television, advertisers are turning to innovative platforms to reach their customers, such as the network Access 360 Media has created," said David Ryan, managing partner at Mission Ventures, in a statement.

A new forecast by analyst Patrick Quinn estimates 2007 digital out-of-home ad spending at $2.19 billion, up 24.5% from 2006. Following a "shakeout" in the category in 2008-2009 because of the economic downturn, he expects a surge of digital out-of-home spending in 2010.--Mark Walsh