[ibimage==47561==Original==none==self==ibimage_align-center]The good news keeps coming in for Centro.
Just yesterday, it appeared at the top of Fortune’s 10 great advertising and marketing workplaces list. Today, the Chicago-based company that creates software that simplifies digital advertising, announced it raised a $30 million Series B round.
Centro, whose platform is predicted to oversee over $400 million in digital ad spend this year, will use the funding primarily to acquire pertinent technologies, according to Centro CEO Shawn Riegsecker.
“As we look to the next few years, because our software platform in market is doing really well, we’re now in a position to kind of fuel more validation strategy in the advertising industry," Riegsecker said. "Most of the funding will go toward acquisition, although another big component is just to continue to scale our product and engineering team, and also some addition to headcount from a sales perspective.”
Riegsecker said Centro will look to expand to global markets, particularly England, France and Italy, where they will not only bring their platform but also will keep an eye out for potential acquisitions. According to Riegsecker, Centro is interested in social buying platforms — those with direct integration to Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. Furthermore, he said Centro wants to venture into the programmatic television space and better its data analytics component.
"We always look and say, 'Do we want to build it or is the faster way for us to move to buy it?'" Riegsecker said. "We'll be reviewing all of those opportunities going forward."
Approximately 2,500 customers use the Centro platform, resulting in the automation of about 200,000 campaigns. This round follows Centro’s 2010 Series A, a $22.5 million investment made by FTV Capital, which Riegsecker said helped Centro scale to more than 600 employees spread throughout 32 offices in North America. He said Centro could grow its employee base by 100-125 persons by year's end. Centro will be focused on hiring product and engineering professionals, as well as sales representatives.
The 14-year-old company has experienced significant growth, and Riegsecker said Centro is considering going public, putting the odds at 50-50. He said that advertising tech companies that have gone public have had some trouble the last 18 months, though he added his company would be ready if it decided to go public.
“Going public comes with a lot of exposure, comes with a lot of extra work, and so we’re being thoughtful in how we think about our next major step," Riegsecker said. "To us, becoming a public company is a financing event, and we want to be very thoughtful of how we proceed down that road.”
Aside from doing great work for its customers, Centro is known for treating its employees very well. It has twice won a Moxie Award for company culture, and it is up for another in the 2015 Moxie Awards.
Neuberger Berman Private Equity Funds, a private investment firm founded in 1939, made the investment.
Have a tip for us or want to share news about your company? Email us via [email protected].
