Personify, Angara Merge, Land Funds
Online analytics firm Personify is tying the knot with Web marketer Angara, in a bid to offer all-in-one tools for optimizing and targeting Web content to consumers.
The merged firm, which will retain the name Personify, also received an undisclosed amount of new financing from investors ABS Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Beyers, and Venture Strategy Partners. (The latter two were previous investors in Angara, while ABS contributed to Personify's earlier financing rounds, during which it received about $25 million.)
The companies disclosed little information on how the merger is to be structured, though it's expected that the merged firm will combine the two companies' technologies, with an eye to offering Web marketers a combined product suite for targeted content delivery.
Personify brings to the table its experience in profiling Web site visitors, while Angara specializes in technology that delivers profile-targeted messages to visitors via banner ads and Web sites. Ideally, the merged technology would allow marketers to automatically track, analyze, target and deliver e-mail and Web offers to consumers.
Personify chief executive Barry Wright, who will continue in his post following the merger, dubbed the marriage “a perfect fit.”
“This deal makes us collectively stronger and better able to serve customer needs,” he said. “Our customers have always demanded understanding about 100 percent of the visitors to their sites, not just a small percentage who purchase or register. Our customers will now have the opportunity to act on the robust information to increase the return of their investment in their e-business.”
The agreement is the most recent effort by Personify to link its analysis and profiling technology to ad-delivery technology. In September, the firm signed an alliance with ValueClick's Mediaplex unit to sell a combined ad delivery, tracking and retargeting product.
The news also comes as online marketing optimization continues to be a relative hot-spot for investment and expansion. Earlier this year, ad campaign optimizer Paramark landed $9 million in financing, while Mediaplex rolled out its own optimization product, MOJO Optimizer.
