Programmatic ad platform Adskom looks to expand into Malaysia

Programmatic ad platform Adskom has raised a round of series A funding of an undisclosed amount, led by Japan’s Geniee.The two other firms participating in the round were Convergence Ventures in Indonesia, and existing investor East Ventures.With the newly acquired capital, Adskom is looking to grow its revenue and expand into Malaysia and Thailand. It is also looking to expand its programmatic ad services to mobile and video platforms.“This is our first ever investment in Southeast Asia,” Akifusa Kanda, executive director at Geniee, said.Italo Gani, co-founder and CEO of Adskom,“There’s been a lot of cooperation between the two companies and we share a common goal of using the most cutting-edge ad technologies to help maximize revenue of our customers.”Analysts say the estimated total digital ad spend in Southeast Asia is a good US$915 million in 2014, excluding the Philippines.In Indonesia alone, companies are expected to spend more than US$800 million on digital ads in 2015, up 80 percent from last year’s US$460 million, according to a recent study by eMarketer.Growth will continue steadily through 2019, when the total ad market in Indonesia (including ads appearing on traditional media) is predicted to jump to US$19.58 billion. Spending on digital and mobile ads will likely contribute around US$7.6 billion by then.Additionally, Adskom provides a complete solution for digital ad campaigns in Southeast Asia via its SSP product called Axon, as well as its Agency Trading Desk product called Actio“We strive to strengthening our lead in Southeast Asia’s programmatic advertising space by managing audience data with multiple data partners,” Daniel Armanto, co-founder and CTO of Adskom, said.“Adskom is a data-driven advertising platform that leverages the data collected from our local partners, and that’s our unique selling proposition. We are capable of collecting and processing local consumer behavior data - which creates a regionally competitive advantage. We are also the only local player who has the tech and the team to support a Big Data operation,” Armanto said.Adskom currently manages 150 million pieces of unique audience data for the Indonesian market. As Indonesia’s market leader in premium publisher inventory, the team is integrated with more than 200 supply, data, and demand partners. Currently, Adskom operates in three countries - Indonesia, Singapore, and the US.Prior to this funding round, Adskom raised multiple seed-stage investments from Japan’s Rebright Partners, Digital Garage, Beenos Plaza, and Skystar Capital in Indonesia.