• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, February 28, 2023

Independent ad platform Equativ took on a new majority shareholder to accelerate scale and growth of the company. Bridgepoint Development Capital became its principal investor following record organic growth of 30% year-over-year, reaching net recurring revenues of $100 million.

The goal is to create one of the top three Supply Side Platforms (SSP) worldwide by growing its presence in the United States, which today represents 40% of revenues; and making a “significant acquisition" in the next 18 to 24 months to fill the gaps in its services, says Arnaud Creput, CEO and founder at Equativ.

“We want to be identified as an independent company that acquires others,” he says.

Creput said he is looking for a company that will help Equativ “scale” in the U.S. to complement its existing tech stack and acquire missing technology, for example, related to data. Build a first-party data marketplace.  

“We could be looking to acquire companies with a focused portfolio,” he said.

About 560 employees support Equativ’s clients. Equativ hired about 200 employees in 2022, adding to its approximate 400. As so many ad companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and others cut employee counts, Equativ plans to hire another 90 employees in 2023 to support global expansion, demand side organization and more.  

In addition to expanding in the United States, Creput said there are plans to expand through Asia-Pacific.

Connected television (CTV) and video are major areas of growth for the company, which serves the supply-side and the demand-side of the ad industry. The key areas within CTV for Equativ include supporting broadcasters worldwide, server-side insertion, and more.

Founded initially as Smart AdServer, Equativ expanded as an SSP and continued to grow its vertically-integrated solutions with the acquisitions of LiquidM and DynAdmic, as well as investment in Nowtilus. All lead up the rebrand of the company as Equativ in 2022. All that even as companies like Yahoo shut down their SSPs. Yahoo in February said it would shutter its native advertising platforms including Gemini and its supply-side platform (SSP).

Equativ is now a global and complete ad server, SSP, and media buying solutions company.