IN-GAME AD PLATFORM ANZU.IO RAISES $9M TO FUEL GLOBAL EXPANSION

Israel-based global gaming advertising platform Anzu has secured $9M USD in a funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures and HBSE Ventures. 

The round also attracted participation from the world’s largest marketing services organisation, WPP; Sony Innovation Fund, the investment arm of one of the world’s largest gaming groups and the owner of PlayStation; Alumni Ventures Group, the leading LGBT+ VC Gaingels; iconic baseball team The Chicago Cubs; Goal Ventures; and prominent angel investors Marc Merrill, Co-Founder, Co-Chairman, and former Co-CEO of Riot Games. and Dylan Collins, Co-Founder and CEO of SuperAwesome – the industry’s leading kid-safe ad platform which was recently acquired by Epic Games.

Anzu says it will use the new capital to catalyse commercial growth, and fuel sales and marketing efforts to help propel it forward on a global scale. The participating investors will act as strategic partners, with Anzu remaining an independent company. 

With the gaming industry already larger than the music and film industries combined, and expected to reach around $275B by 2025, brands are starting to recognise the potential of gaming, and are finally starting to embrace it as an advertising channel. 

WPP CEO, Mark Read, noted:

“Gaming is one activity that has exploded over the past year and increasingly an important advertising channel. In partnership with Anzu, together with our agencies, we can make it simpler for them to reach the growing audience in the esports and gaming space.”

Anzu’s state-of-the-art programmatic technology blends real-world ads into the highest quality video games, esports tournaments, and live streams, adding authenticity to environments and turning game objects into valuable advertising opportunities. 

The company’s client list is already impressive, including game publishers Ubisoft, Lion Castle, and Nacon, along with huge global brands like Pepsico, Samsung, American Eagle, and Vodafone. 

CEO and Chief Investment Officer at Innovation Growth Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, Gen Tschikawa, commented:

“Anzu has been delivering the technology they promised and growing their industry footprint. We are excited to join this funding round and support Anzu, entering a new phase of growth in in-game advertising. The company’s gamer-first attitude will enable developers to access new business models and bring advertisers closer to gamer audiences without disturbing gameplay.”

While Founding General Partner at BITKRAFT, Jens Hilgers, added:

“Since our initial investment, the Anzu team has built the most sophisticated platform to deliver blended in-game advertisement at scale in the higher-end games segment. 

“The impressive line up of game integrations combined with brands executing unique campaigns on the platform has validated Anzu’s market position and technology. We are proud to invest alongside this stellar group of co-investors and look forward to seeing the Anzu team continue to redefine in-game advertisement!”

The latest investment will help Anzu follow its strategic roadmap, which includes new products to compliment and amplify its core technology, along with global expansion to the United States (starting with Los Angeles, and New York), Singapore, China, and other major locations. 

Illustrating the potential of Anzu, at the end of October 2020, the company announced a partnership with the developers of massive multiplayer online role-playing game Virtuverse. The game has an average play session lasting an incredible six and a half hours, giving plenty of opportunities for players to econoutner video and banner ads displayed on immersive billboards and interior screens. 

The company has also partnered with German esports venue developer VERITAS Entertainment, to enable advertisers to communicate their messages within game and esports tournaments (don’t miss our exclusive interview with Dorian Gorr, MD, CMO & Co-Founder of VERITAS Entertainment here). 

AYO.NEWS says:

With online audiences becoming unresponsive to conventional advertising, and the effectiveness of traditional media like sponsorships, television, print and radio dwindling despite costs remaining high, in-game advertising offers perhaps the best opportunity to reach and engage with today’s audiences without annoying them. 

And, with platforms like Anzu and Adverty now offering an easy way to exploit in-game advertising opportunities in some of the most popular games, the surprising thing is that its taken brands this long to realise the potential. 

‘AYO.NEWS says’ features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited or its affiliates or associates. 

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