AcuityAds Investor Top 10 of 2020
December 21, 2020
This has been a game changing year at AcuityAds, when we have set new records for ourselves and forging critical industry partnerships to secure our future in ad tech. In the following, we’d like to recap the highlights of the year that helped our company stand out from the crowd. In case you’d like to discuss any of the following achievements and why we believe AcuityAds is positioned to revolutionize the advertising industry in 2021, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
10. Partnership with Tapad to Enhance Cross-Device Marketing Capabilities with a Focus on CTV
AcuityAds partnered with Tapad, a global leader in digital identity resolution, to enhance AcuityAds’ existing cross-device solution, especially with respect to its cross-channel Connected TV offering. Tapad’s global, privacy-safe digital cross-device solution complements AcuityAds’ own cross-device data set for enhanced marketing capabilities across their Demand Side Platform (DSP). For AcuityAds, this provides customers with unduplicated reach across desktop, tablet, mobile and CTV devices – while augmenting its video offering. To read the full release of this announcement, please click here.
9. Major pharmaceutical client, DSE Healthcare presents onstage with AcuityAds at CMO Summit
Seraj Bharwani, AcuityAds’ Chief Strategy Officer, appeared onstage with client Michele Muhammad, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer of DSE Healthcare Solutions, LLC (“DSE”), to discuss “Successful Client-Partner Relationships” at the CMO Brand Digital Summit. The panel highlighted key learnings from the productive partnership between the two companies. DSE has leveraged AcuityAds’ programmatic advertising platform and proprietary artificial intelligence capabilities to launch its direct-to-consumer (DTC) and eCommerce business for several major brands in its portfolio this year. Watch the session replay here:
8. Acuity & OverActive Media Formalize Unique Esports Partnership
The announcement of a multi-faceted partnership with OverActive Media (OAM) to bring access to the esports audience access to digital marketers was a first-of-its-kind. Our partnership specifically helps OAM and its partners create solutions uniquely tailored for reaching the rapidly growing esports audience online while enabling clients of AcuityAds unique access to esports audiences while using its technology. To read the official partnership announcement click here.
7. DTC leader and client, Purple Mattress appears onstage with AcuityAds at Ad Week Virtual
AcuityAds Chief Strategy Officer Seraj Bharwani appeared at Advertising Week’s first virtual edition, together with Rob Towne, Director of Performance Marketing at Purple Innovation, Inc. The session, entitled “Core Competencies Powering the Meteoric Rise of Purple Mattress”, covered how Purple used our new illumin® platform to achieve brand growth and advertising efficiency. Watch the full session here:
6. Pivoting to All-Virtual Investor Meetings
As a part of our rapid response to the shifting business realities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, AcuityAds strategically transitioned from traditional earnings conference call models to leverage today’s technology and create an engaging experience for our investors, offering increased one-to-one touchpoints for our investors. Watch the recap of our Q3 earnings call here:
5. Advertising Automation Certification Program Introduced at the IAB Brand Disruption Summit
AcuityAds formally launched the Advertising Automation Certification program, together with Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) at the IAB Brand Disruption Summit. This four-part series will exist as part of the IAB series of Brand Academies. The program will enable marketers to leapfrog beyond programmatic advertising and into advertising automation to take control of the pre-purchase consumer journey in an omnichannel ecosystem. Watch the first ever Advertising Automation training session below:
4. Deloitte’s Enterprise 15 and Fast 500 Winners
AcuityAds was once again awarded the Deloitte Enterprise Fast 15 award (part of the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 program), as well as the Fast 500 award. These leadership categories recognize the fastest-growing enterprise-level technology, media, and telecommunications companies in Canada and North America, respectively, by revenue-growth percentage over the last four years of operation. We are incredibly proud to be recognized as one of North America’s top technology companies with a reputation for innovation within the industry. To read the announcement click here.
3. Dramatic Improvement in Operating Results and Financial Position
AcuityAds saw strong operating results in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, including Q3 YTD gross margins ↑4.3%, adjusted EBITDA* ↑115% and operating cash flow ↑$21MM. In addition, we significantly improved our financial position, decreasing our operating line of credit to $0 from a peak of $17MM in Q3’19, closing a $23 million bought deal in November and ending the year with in excess of $20MM of cash in the bank.
*Note: Adjusted EBITDA is a non-IFRS measure.
2. AcuityAds makes it on the AdExchanger Programmatic Power Player list
2020 Programmatic Power Players is AdExchanger’s definitive list of leading agencies, solutions providers and other strategic partners who help power the marketing technology industry. Hundreds of submissions from across the globe were reviewed. Curated by AdExchanger’s editorial team, 60 handpicked partners, including AcuityAds, comprise the list, which will serve as an ongoing resource for marketers and publishers looking to identify their next trusted business partner. To read the announcement click here.
1. Launch of Industry’s First Advertising Automation Technology – illumin
The launch of illumin, a groundbreaking new advertising automation platform that enables planning, buying and omnichannel intelligence in a single platform for seamless visualization and management of the consumer journey, was the culmination of years of work and millions of dollars in investment. We are incredibly excited to offer advertisers access to illumin as they seek to map their consumer journey playbooks across screens and execute in real-time using programmatic technology. Watch the official launch event recap here:
Connect with us!
Get in touch with AcuityAds to learn more about how advertising automation is revolutionizing the DSP landscape. Click here to request a demo of illumin and a representative will reach out to you soon.
For investor inquiries, please contact Babak Pedram, Investor Relations at bpedram@virtusadvisory.com.
