• by June 13, 2011

Giving a thumbs up to online publishers using ad rep firms rather than ad networks to sell remnant inventory, Cypress Growth Capital has provided $1.5 million in funding to Altitude Digital Partners.

The 2-year-old Denver-based Altitude, which reps more than 150 publishers, including Photobucket and LA Times.com, said it now serves more than 5 billion ad impressions monthly. That's up from 2 billion monthly late last year.

Altitude said it will use the new funding to expand its sales efforts with agencies and brands and build its technology infrastructure. Plans include the addition of at least 10 employees over the next six months, up from a current staff of 14.

"The ad rep model becomes a necessity as brand advertisers and their agencies look for scale with a human touch and as publishers look for more lucrative revenue streams," said Ed Mello, managing director of Cypress Growth Capital, in announcing the funding. Added Jeremy Ostermiller, founder and CEO of Altitude Digital Partners: "Digital publishers today are overwhelmed with the complexity of the digital advertising industry."

Cypress Growth Capital, which plans to provide funding of between $1 million and $15 million to companies in Texas and Colorado, is a new venture specializing in royalty-based financing, where recipients use their revenues to pay back what amounts to loans. Its investment in Altitude is its largest since its formation last year.