IAG Research Secures $47.5 Million From Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners

IAG Research Secures $47.5 Million From Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners

NEW YORK, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- IAG Research, the TV ad effectiveness ratings company, today announced that it has closed a $47.5 million Series E financing round from two leading sources of private equity, Insight Venture Partners and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Founded in 1999 by Alan Gould and Ken Orkin, IAG Research has become the standard for determining advertising effectiveness on television. IAG measures viewer response to every ad, product placement, and TV program occurring across all broadcast and major cable networks covered. Syndicated IAG data is now used by leading advertisers to maximize their ad efficiency. IAG subscribers include Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, GM, DaimlerChrylser, Kia, Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, American Express, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, Paramount, Sony, Merck, Pfizer, the NFL as well as the leading networks including NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, ESPN, Bravo, USA, Lifetime, TBS, TNT, and Food Network.

"IAG's mission is to measure viewer response to television programming wherever it goes and the proceeds from this financing will be used to accelerate the development of the technology to measure ad supported VOD, television delivered via the internet, mobile television and video gaming," said Alan Gould, Co-CEO of IAG. "IAG's position is unique in the world of ad effectiveness measurement as it has deep relationships with both advertisers and networks."

"Two things make us extremely bullish on IAG. First is the growing market for real time ad effectiveness metrics. Leading marketers have embraced IAG's ad effectiveness tools and IAG is now well positioned to become the standard by which ad effectiveness on television programming on all platforms is measured. Second is IAG's ability to deploy new measurement systems as new TV platforms (VOD, Web, Mobile) emerge. IAG's information management and technology team is by far the best in the media research space. It gives IAG the ability to build systems and deploy them in a manner unrivaled by their competitors," added Jeff Horing, Managing Director of Insight Venture Partners.

Robert Goodman, a General Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners commented, "IAG has been doubling its business for the past several years and we believe given the rapid disruption in the television business model and the growing need to demonstrate ROI, that IAG's growth will only accelerate in the future. We also see a market where advertisers increasingly value the effect of their ads equal to the audience size they reach and in this new world, IAG will emerge as the leader."

Previous Insight investments include Quest Software, Illuminet, and McKinley (acquired by Excite). Bessemer Venture Partners has previously invested in Skype (acquired by eBay), Flarion (acquired by QUALCOMM), and VeriSign.

About Insight Venture Partners

With over $1.8 billion under management, Insight Venture Partners is the leading private equity firm focused exclusively on software, information, and Internet-enabled businesses. Insight partners with entrepreneurs to execute growth equity financings, recapitalizations, and leveraged buyout transactions. Headquartered in New York, Insight has taken a global approach to investing in a market where experience, value-add consulting, and the ability to execute are the foundations of success.

For additional information, visit the Insight's website at http://www.insightpartners.com/.

About Bessemer Venture Partners

Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) is the oldest venture capital practice in the United States. With offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Bangalore, the firm manages more than two billion dollars of venture funds, carrying on a tradition of hands-on, active venture investing that has continued since 1911. Over 100 Bessemer companies have gone public, including American Superconductor, Ciena, Gartner Group, Ingersoll Rand, International Paper, Maxim, Parametric, PerSeptive Biosystems, Staples, VeriSign, Veritas and W.R. Grace.

For additional information, visit the Bessemer's website at http://www.bvp.com/.

For more information about IAG Research, please visit http://www.iagr.net/.

Source: IAG Research

CONTACT: Kelly Mathus, +1-212-871-5220, kmathus@iagr.net

Web site: http://www.insightpartners.com/
http://www.bvp.com/
http://www.iagr.net/

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Profile: International Entertainment