Local television advertising startup Spot Runner said today it had raised $40 million from television advertising buyers Interpublic Group and WPP, television advertising seller (among other things) CBS, as well as Allen & Company, Tudor Investment Corporation, Capital Research and Management, Lachlan Murdoch, Vivi Nevo, Index Ventures, and Battery Ventures. The Los Angeles-based company had previously raised a $10 million Series A round from the last two firms as well as Comerica Bank.
Spot Runner offers a web-based platform for plugging your company’s information into a pre-made ad and buying local airtime for it. The target demographic has been small businesses who normally don’t have the resources to craft and coordinate TV ads. Spot Runner said today it would use the new investment to bring its ads to online video, video on demand, and IPTV.
Funders are writing fat checks for advertising platforms right now. Rhythm NewMedia said today it had raised $18 million from the Carlyle Group, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Morganthaler Ventures, and Rembrandt Venture Partners for its mobile advertising platform. Last week we wrote about Jingle Networks’ new round for tying ads into directory assistance; that was $30 million.
7 comments so far
4:01 PM PT
I don’t think spot runner is a good idea. Its already created for you. You need something more customizable. For instance http://www.commercialcreator.com is a company that existed before spot runner and takes all of the same principles but lets you customize everything.
1:53 PM PT
My opinion: As long as you hate your business, just sign up for one of the above copy-cat services. Crap is easy to sell to the naive. Without the guidance of a legit agency that produces and airs cheap TV spots, the wanna-be entrepreneur is sure to make all the wrong decisions both creatively and strategically.
12:39 PM PT
Speaking of cheap tv spots, Cheap-TV-Spots.com produces custom-made commercials for one flat rate without adding big fees to air time like a template-based spot ruiner might. Their sister agency called BareNakedAds.com produces custom-made TV ads for free along with a national air time package that’s very inexpensive. Very slick stuff with a great reputation for quality and 24 hour service. Excellent for real estate Open House ads and franchise operators. Their international division is expanding past Europe into Asia.
2:10 PM PT
Self-Service TV Advertising
Just while I thought that The Long Tail would kill all forms of traditional media, Spotrunner has found ways of utilizing The Long Tail to resurrect this (dying?) medium.
It’s quite difficult to imagine how a company can provide a link between a …
6:25 PM PT
I think Spotrunner provides a great service. I have used them for real estate services as well as for my husband’s advertising services. But we had a company called CommercialMaker.com create our commercials, and Spotrunner just purchased the airtime. I don’t understand why anyone would say Spotrunner is not a good idea. It’s affordable for small businesses, and it works. You can’t beat that.
12:21 AM PT
why are the Cheap-TV-Spots.com people spamming every SINGLE post regarding spot runner all over the internet?
9:00 PM PT
[...] Runner has taken money from a whole lot of people en route to that total, including Allen & Company, Battery Ventures, [...]
Leave a Comment