Chinese
mobile ad company Mobvista acquired programmatic mobile games and app ad platform NativeX for
$25 million in cash Monday.Rob Weber will continue in his role as CEO of NativeX, and become VP of the Mobvista Group.
In May 2014, NativeX launched
a global native exchange for mobile advertising, Real-Time Daily
reported. Now, the Sartell, Minn.-based company offers a variety of ad formats, including Lightning Play video, interstitials and other rich-media
units.
Mobvista claims to get 10 billion daily impressions from integrated ad spots and Web sites across more than 240 countries. After a $32 million funding round last year, the company told
Shanghai Daily it would use the funds to "expand overseas mobile marketing and game distribution channels."
This is the latest trend in ad-tech
acquisitions, as global companies snatch up smaller firms to serve different markets, benefiting from new tech capabilities and potential sources of data.
Other recent mobile acquisitions
include RNTS Media, the parent company of Berlin-based mobile ad tech firm Fyber, buying Silicon Valley-based mobile start-up Heyzap for up to $45 million earlier this year, as reported by
Mobile Marketing Daily. Heyzap, a social discovery and
monetization platform for mobile games and apps, also helps developers connect with major ad networks via a mediation layer.