Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Brand Affinity Technologies Raises $7.5M

Irvine-based Brand Affinity Technologies, the startup headed by Ryan and Chad Steelberg which is focused on celebrity endorsements, said this morning that it has raised $7.5M in a Series D funding round. BAT said the new round was led by Matthew Pritzker Company, and also included existing investors Miramar Venture Partners, Newport Coast Investments, RimLight, LLC, Fulcrum Venture Capital, and ad pepper media International. Brand Affinity Technologies operates an online service which helps brands connect with celebrities and athletes for endorsements, providing metrics to find celebrity talent on a city-by-city basis. BAT said it has now raised $34M in funding. Ryan and Chad Steelberg are best known for selling their last big startup, dMarc Broadcasting, to Google in 2006 for what was then worth more than a billion dollars; the two also founded AdForce (sold to CMGi) and 2CAN Media (also sold to CMGi). More information »