Independent identity solution provider ID5 has announced a series A funding round of US$6 million (AU$7.86 million).
Alliance Entreprendre and Progress Ventures join existing lead investor 360 Capital Partners to support ID5 in growing its privacy-first identification service for the whole digital advertising ecosystem.
ID5 will use the funds to expand its operations globally, focusing on the US market.
The company will invest in its technology infrastructure, further develop its products and grow its team.
Since its launch in 2017, ID5 has been working towards the creation of an efficient identification infrastructure that supports media owners and respects users’ privacy choices.
The technology has been adopted by hundreds of publishers and adtech platforms globally, enabling ID5 to boost its global reach to over 600 million consumers daily and increase the value of its Universal ID service.
“Closing this round now, in the wake of recent announcements by Google and Apple, is a strong signal sent to the market that there are alternatives to the walled gardens,” ID5 co-founder and CEO Mathieu Roche says.
“We have seen tremendous adoption of Universal ID, our cookie-less identification service, by publishers and ad tech platforms. The backing of leading US and European investors gives us further means to achieve our ambition to become the global ID infrastructure powering digital advertising.“
Progress Ventures managing partner Adriaan Zur Muhlen says since Google's announcement about the deprecation of third-party cookies in Chrome, the identity space has been growing significantly.
“Many companies have jumped on the opportunity to create a cookie-less identifier, but ID5 has a significant head start," Zur Muhlen says.
"The company has already spent three years educating the industry on the importance of creating a privacy-first identification system and has built a strong network of publishers and ad tech platforms leveraging their ID. We are excited to support their next stage of growth, and their vision of the digital future, particularly as they increase their focus on the US market.”
Alliance Entreprendre executive director Antoine Bodet says the company invested in ID5 because of its "first-mover" advantage and clear long-term vision.
"ID5’s European roots and strong connections with media owners has enabled the company to better understand users’ and publishers’ needs," Bodet says.
"They have built an inclusive offering that benefits all types of publishers, as well as their monetisation partners, in their efforts to stay competitive in a marketplace dominated by tech giants.”
360 Capital Partners general partner François Tison says the investor will continue to support ID5.
“We are happy to continue to support ID5’s effort to solve one of the biggest challenges that digital advertising has ever faced," Tison says.
“The ID5 team has done an amazing job creating and scaling a strong replacement solution for cookies and MAIDs, their time-to-market has been perfect, and we are confident they can support the industry in this critical transition."
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